(We begin a new week at NCS with our Norway-based contributor Chile and his compelling review of the first new album in more than 9 years from the Italian black metal band Lorn.)

Italy has been a hotspot for quality extreme metal for years now it seems, and it is still moving on an upward path. It is hard then to imagine a time when the scene was much smaller and only a handful of bands strived to make a mark for themselves.

Maybe somewhat overshadowed by the likes of Mortuary Drape, Bulldozer or Death SS, many other bands were holding their own in those early times and are still a worthy listen. All of this helped the new and upcoming bands in the years to come, and by the time the late ’90s came around is when things began to develop in different directions.

Out of that time immemorial comes Lorn. Starting their musical voyage around the turn of the century, they came into their own by releasing their debut in 2006. With their activities seemingly going up and down over the years, like the road to the mighty Dolomites out of their native city of Bolzano, the band maintained a string of quality releases culminating in the phenomenal Arrayed Claws from 2017.

Now, even if the name of that album doesn’t ring an immediate bell, the absolutely outstanding cover should. The intermingled, leering forms of teeth-baring wolves (or something like such animals) adorned in a shade of deep purple, captured perfectly the essence of one of the best metal albums to come out of the Italian scene. Continue reading »