Behold, the hour has come for the infamous horde WEREWOLF BLOODORDER to unleash upon the world their greatest curse yet, in the form of their first full-length album “The Return of The Night and The Fog”. Barely have we recovered from their recently released advanced EP “Imperial Bloodorder,” and already the band has announced the release of their long-awaited debut album for June. It is our duty to highlight from the outset of this review that this album is a killer! At a time when most Black Metal bands are seeking new sub-genres or increasingly unusual blends to stand out from the crowd, WEREWOLF BLOODORDER is going against the grain and executing the most pure and traditional Black Metal. No gimmicks, no excessive virtuosity, no instant plastic or gratuitous studio resources, no sonic make-up – only copious amounts of blood, sweat, darkness, and pure hatred transformed into an avalanche of riffs that will crush the most sensitive ears and tear apart the most innocent souls.
The first thing that caught my attention on this album was the extreme quality of the compositions. Every one of the seven tracks, without exception, is of the highest caliber, and at no point will you hear a track or even a riff that seems to have been composed just to “fill in the gaps.” Everything here consistently maintains a level of excellence that I have rarely heard in a Black Metal album. As expected, “The Return of The Night and The Fog” is also a true time machine that will transport you to various moments of the nineties, bringing a great sense of nostalgia to those who lived through those glorious days and surely inspiring a new generation that did not experience that memorable period.
The album begins with a brief intro that follows the same bizarre and uncompromising sound aesthetic shown in the “Imperial Bloodorder” EP before quickly moving into a fast and extremely violent composition, where the sharp distortion of the guitars and Warlord’s agonized vocals are the highlights, making it seem like he is being tortured in some damp and moldy dungeon in the underworld. The final part of this composition slows down and ends perfectly with a brief outro. Next up is “Fullmoon Spectres Marches over The Falling Zion,” which had already been presented to us in the “Imperial Bloodorder” EP, showing a slightly different facet of the band with a more cadenced and somewhat desolate sound that reminded me a bit of some moments in Darkthrone’s “Ravishing Grimness” album. In this track, you can also hear some surgical keyboards that permeate various moments throughout the album, adding an extra dose of obscurity and an atmospheric soundscape to the band’s music.
“Southern Thrones in The Moon’s Shadows” is the next song, and it has a more primitive, raw, and cold aura, most likely due to the fact that this composition was originally written by Warlord and Black Goat of Darkness in 1994, during the demos of the late EVIL, and is only now being released almost thirty years later. Another brief intro, and “Spell of Hatred” explodes from the speakers. This track had already been presented to us in the “Sorceries of Blood and Iron” split released at the beginning of 2023, and I particularly enjoy the guitar harmonies in the final part of this song.
The forthcoming composition is entitled “Thy Spring Will Never Come”. This opus was originally intended for release on the latest album of the infernal band EVIL, “Vrill’s Power Syndicate”, which regrettably remains unreleased. Of a certainty, this track is my personal favorite on “The Return of The Night and the Fog”. The visceral succession of riffs contained therein would alone justify the album’s existence, yet it is intriguing to note how the instrumental aspect of the piece, with its diverse sonic landscapes, appears to relate a tale with a distinct beginning, middle, and end.
Upon hearing this composition, I was left to ponder the magnitude of the album that EVIL never unleashed upon the world. Thus, I remain in hopeful anticipation that further offerings from this arcane wellspring shall find their way into the WEREWOLF BLOODORDER. The album culminates with the outstanding “Kali Yoga”, which boasts guitar harmonies of great interest in its opening, followed by a second half of ferocious and venomous intensity. In addition to the meticulously crafted musical elements, “The Return of the Night and the Fog” shall be presented in a luxurious digibook format, featuring a 24-page booklet adorned with exclusive artwork from the esteemed talents of Sang Ho Moon and Emerson Maia, created for each individual track.
Truly, this release is a veritable cannon blast from the Signal Rex\ Hammer of Damnation, squarely aimed at the modern world’s complacent and myopic gaze. Let there be no mistake – the album is compulsory listening, and free will shall find no purchase here.
