When dealing in an oversaturated sound, it can be all too easy for those of real talent and substance to tragically fall through the cracks. Black metal is no stranger to such situations as it can be seen countless times over with plenty of names simply being lost and smothered by obscurity given how much there is to sift through with some truly exceptional acts left to little more than a cult status if they’re lucky. Yet thanks in part to the digital nature of the underground nowadays, talent manages to float into the light every so often to show us what grandeur is still out there to be found. Within Thy Wounds is hardly a new name on the scene given all that it has accomplished since its debut six years ago, but it’s with this new EP that the name showcases just how far it has come and how well it understands its craft.
All too long has it been since the realms of atmospheric black metal have offered me something that I can really sink my teeth into, and even longer has it been since the sound has offered me more than one such creations within a few days of each other. It was just the other night that Grauwyler demonstrated what a long-form vision of atmospheric black metal can still be when it’s crafted by the right hands, and it’s now tonight that Within Thy Wounds demonstrates why the name has built such a respectable reputation for itself in six years with this newest performance, “Beneath the Stars of Freezing Night”, a magnificent experience from top to bottom. Brief but unmistakably vast in scope and capacity, this three-track EP just barely doesn’t crack a 21-minute run time with the power and expanse of the work speaking for itself many times over. Within Thy Wounds channels only the coldest avenues of atmospheric black metal with the act’s personality bleeding through damn near every minute to ensure that the work does not take on stale undertones. Rather, “Beneath the Stars of Freezing Night” is nothing if not a triumphant display of power for the genre with Within Thy Wounds a damn near perfect vessel to deliver such a vision.
Without compromising its own personal ideals nor the core fundamentals of the genre, Within Thy Wounds offers listeners a pure and unadulterated vision of atmospheric black metal that delivers on virtually every front. If it was just the other night that Grauwyler reminded us how much this sound can still offer us, it’s here that “Beneath the Stars of Freezing Night” that we’re reminded of the raw majesty that can still be conjured in nothing short of an exquisite form.
LISTEN to “Beneath the Stars of Freezing Night” on Bandcamp here.
FOLLOW Within Thy Wounds on Instagram here.