Band – Ebony Pendant
Album – Ebony Pendant
Country of Origin – USA
Genre – Black Metal
Release Date – June 25, 2023
Label – Independent
Author – Michael Litteral
Ebony Pendant.
Remember that name now, because Nathan Hassall (a great friend of mine and fellow Order Admin) and I believe this USBM entity will only grow to be known as one of the best acts in our Yankee scene.
I mentioned my dear friend, Nathan, because he had the idea of us “dual-listening” to the album and letting live interpretation bring inspiration for the review.
Right of the rip, or should I say riff, this album brings you to the trve and cold. Medieval is the flavor throughout this masterpiece, rich in texture and variety.
When I say variety, I don’t mean that lightly. While still being intertwined as a cohesive album that flows nicely through blasts, acoustics, and everything that is black metal, there are a lot of varieties with the tempo, emotion, temperature, and even vocal styles.
This album checks off every box that a trve kvlt pvrists could come up with. As mentioned by Nathan while listening, Ebony Pendant skillfully climbs up and down the mountains of influences given by all of your 90s Norwegian classics. While showing so much homage to various acts, it is still his very own work and distinctly plants a stake in the ground claiming new territory within the Orthodox motherlands.
All in all, I can’t really find any complaints on my end, maybe the vocals turned up a bit on a track or two, but that’s honestly looking for something to knit-pick.
Spirit Possession’s ‘…Of The Sign’ for the longest time has taken the throne for my #1 AOTY spot, but this is seriously giving it a run for its money.
Biography: Michael Litteral is just your friendly neighborhood metalhead who can’t seem to find his way out of the black, and he’s just fine with that.
