Spectral Lore - II (2007)

Originally released in 2007 in a limited amount of just fifty copies, Spectral Lore’s second full-length is an absolute gem to behold both in physical presentation and musical style.

As far as the presentation is concerned I can honestly say this is one of the more unique releases I’ve had the pleasure of getting my hands on. It comes in a heavy wooden box with the words ‘Spectral Lore’ and 'II’ etched on the front and unfolds like a digipak, plus there are indentations to hold the booklet and CDr inside. I’ve always been a fan of special releases like these and it always makes me proud to be a fan of this type of music, because lets face the facts, no mainstream artist has the imagination to release something like this. Fortunately once you actually play this album the allure is enriched tenfold.

Spectral Lore is a hard band to classify since as it stands I can’t really think of any other band that sounds exactly like this. However it could be said that Spectral Lore’s music fits within the structure of a raw black metal style with some doom metal-ish elements as well as plenty of purely acoustic and ambient sections. When the music is within the raw black metal style the guitars have the tendency to carry the typical raw buzzing tone to them, but they by no means lack melodic components and there are plenty of interesting guitar solos too, which in some cases seem to hold a more folky approach. The acoustic guitars as you can probably imagine are elegantly performed and sound absolutely breathtaking and beautiful all at once, while the ambient parts are dark, ominous, and eerie to boot.

Vocals are somewhat typical of the genre, but are certainly not without their own charm and in fact are somewhat limited in use at times. In any case though, they are callously screamed and are more or less impossible to distinguish, but that’s black metal music for you. I think another thing that really captures my interest with this release is the absolute cold feeling it presents. The first time I listened to the album I was on my way to work during a snow storm and the music seemed to blend in perfectly with the snowy landscapes I seen as I went along. Even now sitting in my apartment I feel this aura of unbridled spine-chilling wintriness hovering around me, which as you might guess is superb.

‘II’ gracefully kicks off with an acoustic intro called ‘Introitus’ and then hammers into the incredible twenty five minute ‘The Thorns That Guide My Warpath,’ which for what its worth is undoubtedly one of the finest black metal songs I’ve ever heard and features all of the qualities stated above. The magnetism is certainly not just limited to this song though since others like ‘Towards The Great Crossroad' or 'Through An Infinite Dreamscape’ are just as outstanding. Generally speaking though at one hour and seventeen minutes, II is indeed one of the finest atmospheric musically journeys one can undertake.

Assuming your into anything ranging from Ulver’s early trilogy of releases, (old) Satyricon, Burzum, Agalloch, Procer Veneficus, Caïna, Vinterriket, Velvet Cacoon, Falls of Rauros, and maybe even Xasthur, then I absolutely implore you to check out this very interesting release.

The special wooden box version of this album is long sold out, but back on March 28th, Temple of Torturous re-released the album as a digisleeve CD limited to 1000 copies.