This is the third album from Swedish black metal solo act Kvaen.
The name Kvaen hit the black metal underground hard with 2020’s The Funeral Pyre, and then followed this up in 2022 with The Great Below, which showed that the quality of the debut was no fluke. Another two years have passed, and now we have The Formless Fires. Do the 39 minutes of new music here still demonstrate a continuation of these quality levels?
You’re damn right they do.
The Formless Fires provides a searing hit of melodic black metal. It’s sharp and serrated, with a firm sense of songwriting ability that’s baked into the music’s frozen foundations. The Formless Fires embraces its old-school Swedish black metal heritage even more than its predecessors, although it’s still not restricted to this style alone – folk, melodic death, Viking/pagan, and speed metal influences can still be heard in places, although none really dominate proceedings overall.
The music fuses blackened violence, icy atmosphere, and affecting melody into hook-filled songs. There’s a dark intensity to the fast parts, and a fluid ease in which the artist behind the band transitions between different paces, moods, and feelings. The compositions are classic in nature, and delivered with professional skill and the passion of the zealot. I like a good solo and a killer riff, and The Formless Fires is ripe with them both.
The Formless Fires is a compelling merger of traditional might and contemporary skill, the latter of which primarily manifests in the technical ability, the use of bass guitar, some molten metal solos, and a strong production. Kvaen’s music succeeds in making the most of what the present has to offer in order to reap the benefits of the past’s tried-and-tested recipes.
Ultimately this is simply a strong collection of tracks from an artist that knows how to craft a damn good tune. The Formless Fires is sleek and professional, but driven by the bite and energy of someone that passionately loves what they do.
Fans of bands such as Naglfar, Watain, Dark Funeral, Marduk, Dissection, and similar need to be all over this. Don’t miss out.
Wonderbox Metal 