Like most of the global black metal fanbase, I was taken aback by the 2021 release ‘Tales of Othertime’ – from fantastical obsessives, Stormkeep. I recall being recommended it by Chris, the guitarist in Wolvencrown/Antre, and delving into a world of almost perfect 90s black metal to discover an album that was, to all intents of purposes, pretty flawless. And now, as 2026 humps (is that a thing?), we find that this snow-clad outfit, based in Denver, Colorado….have unleashed their second offering.
It’s no secret that the members of Stormkeep, in particular the primary member Isaac Faulk, have been a little busy with other projects. To have even got this one off the drawing board is quite remarkable – given how tied-up in the cosmos Blood Incantation and, to some extent, Wayfarer, have been these last few years. But off the drawing board it has become, and what can we find in the next leg of this mythical quest?
This is a very different album to ‘Tales Of Othertime’ although the sturdy pillars of the debut sit firmly within tracks such as opener ‘The Taste Of Immortal Blood’ and the ripping ‘Saccharine Subjugation’. However, ‘The Nocturnes of Iswlym’ treads a much more symphonic path than its predecessor or, should I say, uses symphonics as a main motif rather than as a frost-encrusted embellishment. This takes more from Worm and latter day Dimmu Borgir than it does from…plucking one right out the air….Emperor.
That doesn’t mean by any stretch that this record is, in any way, inferior to the one we still all talk about. It’s a complex, well-written and vastly nerdy affair that will appeal more instantly to those with the most vivid imagination. By that, I mean those who see orcs and elves in their everyday lives, and treat getting a bag of frozen peas out of the deep freeze in Tesco as if they are slaying a troll under the glistening light of a frozen waterfall. This is more cinematic, more progressive, more geeky and more divisive.
I pick and choose my really symphonic black metal, and this sits right on the cusp for me. I have no doubt it will grow on me as the heavy use of folky sung lines echo around my head, but I am fairly confident it won’t, for me at least, hit the almost unachievable highs of Tales.
Best Served With: A Pointy Hat, Tolkein’s handkerchief and Being Socially Awkward.
Stormkeep – The Nocturnes of Iswylm is out now on Vesperian.
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