Hemelbestormer – A Ring of Blue Light (Review)

This is the second album from Belgian post-metallers Hemelbestormer.

Having enjoyed 2016’s Aether, listening to A Ring of Blue Light was a no-brainer really. On this second release Hemelbestormer’s atmospheric metal has not disappointed.

An instrumental band whose music is compelling and engaging enough to not need a singer, A Ring of Blue Light continues to see the band fuse their doom, post-metal, and sludge influences together to create heavy and atmospheric music.

Much like Aether, this latest album offers listeners a rewarding and enriching journey into foreign, unexplored lands. While you’re on this trip, there’s a lot to see and the sense of grandeur evoked from the awe-inspiring sights that the band show you is quite impressive.

Just as the cover art draws you in, so does the music. Although greatly atmospheric and nuanced, one of the things I really like about Hemelbestormer is just how heavy they can be when they want to; those rhythm guitars certainly carry some weight. Even better than this though is despite how heavy the music can get, it always operates from an emotive core. These songs can crush you not only with their sometimes thick distortion, but also with their atmospheric substance and merit.

Of course, when they’re not playing heavy music, the band are simply atmospheric and rich, with resplendent melodies breaking out of the music left and right.

A Ring of Blue Light sees a step up in quality for this talented band. It seems that on Aether the band were just getting started, and Hemelbestormer have taken all of the strengths of that first album and forged them into something even better.

Highly recommended. Travel with Hemelbestormer and see the cosmos.