(written by Islander)
Yesterday we premiered a song from the forthcoming second album by Azathoth’s Dream, a band that’s part of the “Order of the Broken Sword” circle, and today we’re premiering music from an album (also to be released by Iron Bonehead Productions) by another member of that circle, the black metal band Sigorspéd.
References to musical “circles” sometimes suggest not merely cooperation among musicians, sometimes including interlocking lineups, but also close musical similarities. That, however, is not the case with the Order of the Broken Sword, as a comparison of these two back-to-back song premieres vividly demonstrates.
One clue about what animates Sigorspéd can be found in the cover art for their debut album Everlasting Wisdom of the Ancients, which portrays an ancient warrior charging on his horse though a hail of arrows and a field of corpses, sword defiantly raised — though more tangible clues can be found in their one previous release, a February 2025 demo named Honor.
The song titles on that demo refer to famed battles in the 11th, 14th, and 15th centuries in what is now the UK and France. None of the song titles on the new album contain any such overt historical references, but they do seem to continue a focus on the travails and triumphs of warriors across time, albeit with more mystical allusions. The song we’re about to premiere is one such example.
“Ecstatic Trance of the Warrior” opens the album. It’s own opening takes the shape of a vividly vibrating harmonized riff, straddling a line between ugliness and clarity, that creates a beleaguered and even desperate mood, a form of musical stress that’s intriguingly backed my bass notes that seem to dismally moan and wail, and by a ticking cymbal and booming war drums.
You get the feeling that something’s going to give, that the tension is going to break in some way, and it does. The riffing maniacally swarms; the drums hammer like thundering hooves; the bass bubbles like heated blood; and a reverberating voice furiously screams with larynx-shredding intensity. Yet the emotional quality of the riffing still seems to channel not only violent ecstasies but also back-against-the-wall desperation.
When the beats briefly steady, the boiling riffage grows darker and more downtrodden, accented by mystical chiming tones that deepen the feeling of loss and despair — though one final blazing charge is what brings the song to a close, vocals still thoroughly unhinged.
And so the song proves to have more facets than simply mounting a ravaging black metal assault (though it does do that). It’s emotionally involving, haunting as well as harrowing, and with a mystical as well as a muscular quality.
Iron Bonehead will release Sigorspéd‘s debut album on CD and vinyl LP formats. As usual, there will be no pre-orders, but you’ll find ordering opportunities on the appointed release date — July 11th — via the links below.
We’re also including a stream of the first-released song from the album, “Malefic Light Cast Upon the Coiled Serpent“, one that’s much longer than the one we’ve just revealed and even more multi-faceted.
MORE INFO:
https://sigorsped.bandcamp.com
https://www.ironbonehead.de
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/ironboneheadproductions