Out NOW
Via Northern Silence Productions
Words by: Courtney Stark
Bandcamp Friday is an important day in the calendar for underground artists and metal fans alike. We live in turbulent times where Spotify and iTunes are inundated with music increasingly stripped of human connection, while debates surrounding artist revenue versus platform revenue continue to grow louder. It is perhaps no surprise that vinyl and cassette sales continue to surge. In an age of convenience and digital artifice, many listeners are once again searching for something tangible.
For those unaware, Bandcamp is an online record store and music distribution platform for independent artists, giving them the opportunity to sell their music and merchandise directly to listeners. Better still, artists retain the majority of their earnings. Several times a year, Bandcamp hosts Bandcamp Fridays, waiving its fees so that 100% of proceeds go directly to the artists. For metal fans of all persuasions, particularly black metal devotees, it remains a kind of digital sanctuary — a place where obscure, forgotten and extraordinary music continues to thrive beyond the reach of algorithms.
German record label Northern Silence Productions have long stood among the foremost custodians of atmospheric black metal. Since 2003, they have cultivated a roster that consistently explores the more melancholic and introspective corners of the genre. In my humble opinion, some of the most inspiring album artwork and vinyl presentations in modern black metal have emerged from their ranks.
On Bandcamp Friday, I made the impulse purchase of Gravvålnad’s Dreams of Evernight. The black charcoal-sketched scenery giving a polished Burzum-esque atmosphere was an indication that I was about to embark upon an incredibly dark and melancholic seven-track opus, one that immediately transported me into the depths of a Scandinavian winter where daylight feels like a distant memory.
Gravvålnad is a solo atmospheric black metal project from Sweden that has crafted a work as cinematic and expansive as it is mournful. I have always had an affinity for the lesser-explored fringes of black metal, particularly solo projects, where a singular vision can unfold without compromise. There is often an intimacy to these recordings, a feeling of isolation that larger bands struggle to replicate, and Dreams of Evernight embodies that spirit completely.
Across all seven tracks, from The Return of 12 Ships to Eyes of the Red Temple (potentially a reference to the infamous Temple of Melkor built upon the island kingdom of Númenor in the Second Age), through the instrumental passages of Arrows of Evernight and Hill of Sorcery, to the closing shadows of Black Flames (perhaps echoing Dol Guldur itself), Dreams of Evernight unfolds as a vivid journey. The imagery is so strongly conveyed that intelligible lyrics or explicit narrative are almost unnecessary; the album awakens the imagination on its own terms.
This is an album that takes its rightful place alongside the works of Summoning, Beleriand, One of Nine and Emyn Muil. For listeners drawn to black metal’s more immersive and transportive qualities, Dreams of Evernight offers an escape into something older, darker and far removed from today’s modern world.
