Stormruler - Under The Burning Eclipse (New Vinyl LP)

Sharpen your blades and prepare for war with fast-rising USA black metal export Stormruler! The St. Louis-based two-man project - featuring the dark lyrical genius and deft skill of guitarist/vocalist Jason Asberry and drummer Jesse Schobel - combines unrelenting black metal atmosphere and vision from varying metal genres with a brutal, modernized twist of inspiration culled from war, high-fantasy and history. Stormruler's blistering debut album, Under The Burning Eclipse, does just that and more, and sees a 2021 re-release via Napalm Records. Featuring 19 tracks alternating with ominous instrumental ambience and incendiary black metal riffage and fury, the album tells harrowing tales of war, death, victory and defeat, and delivers an unmatched, hellscaped auditory experience. Creeping in like menacing sonic smoke, instrumental ambient intro track "Shine Of Ivory Horns" launches directly into opener "Reign Of The Winged Duke". Instantly careened into a cascade of blastbeats and infernal riffage, searing vocals top the track as it tells the tale of an immortal magical beast searching for divine power! Under The Burning Eclipse evenly ebbs and flows between warning mystical atmosphere and ghastly action, evident on the likes of blackened headbobbers "Age Of Steel & Blood", "Dawn Of The Eternal Fire" and unrelenting 8+ minute title epic "Under The Burning Eclipse". Standout burner "Of Hollowed Souls & Distant Flame" looks to the north with archaic screams and memorable, colossal progressions, while combat-ready tracks like "At The Cliffs Of Azure City" incorporate ruminations of classic heavy metal combined with scorched, war-torn percussion. The album traverses desolate musical peaks and valleys before closing with the otherworldly brutality of "Fear The Old Blood" - a non-stop onslaught of black metal attack - and ambient, acoustically-driven finisher of olde"Fields Of Mortal Shame". Under The Burning Eclipse is a solid hour of fantasy-laden, grim fables transfixed in blackened scourge. Fans of extreme metal will not want to miss this debut offering from the mighty Stormruler!