Lorn are an Italian black metal band and this is their fourth album.
Following on from 2017’s Arrayed Claws, Lorn have now returned with the 41-minute Searing Blood. It’s not the same Lorn as previously encountered though. However, when you listen to Searing Blood, it’s hard to complain. This is a shockingly good record.
Searing Blood features a strange and captivating form of black metal. It is shrouded in esoteric feeling, like you’re listening to something far away that may not even be of this world. Arrayed Claws dealt in dissonant black metal with strong atmospheric leanings, whereas Searing Blood really emphasises the latter, but in a far more organic, richer way.
This new material is carved from second wave ice, yet is given fertile new life through Lorn’s unnerving ability to take the familiar and distort it. The end result is an album that, on the surface, shares many similarities with atmospheric black metal, yet is also a shadowy, intangible creature of its own; Searing Blood bleeds multidimensional spectral auras that are completely immersive.
Lorn have created a record of transportive blackened soundscapes. The well-written music is evocative and absorbing, delivering a twist on a classic style simply by virtue of being both extremely good and by crafting atmospheric textures that feel a shade different to the norm. This might not sound like much, but it makes a world of difference. Lorn’s music is spellbinding. It evokes a fascination in the listener that’s akin to rediscovering a neglected passion, or seeing a lover in a new light. In many ways a casual, unwary listener might conclude that Searing Blood is nothing new in and of itself, yet it carries a power to entrance that’s remarkable. In such an ancient and venerable style, this makes Searing Blood worth its weight in gold. How often do you find something that so perfectly channels the past, while also standing completely separate from it? Not often, is the answer. Lorn have achieved something remarkable.
Searing Blood is an atmospheric mystery. Wrapped in traditional shades of black, yet adorned with jewels and gems the likes of which are rarely seen, Lorn’s new album entices the listener in, delivering an atmospheric black metal album that’s extraordinary.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 