Howl – Drought

Given the sheer density of what black metal has become, it’s no surprise that practically every form of the sound has quite the following in some form or another. Recently, it’s those earlier waves of black metal that have been given a lot of attention from acts new and veteran for all sorts of reasons with plenty of acts coming together from across the world to pay homage to the classic darkness. While some are not able to become more than cheap imitations, some rise to the occasion to really embody what the sound could be even today. Effortlessly, Howl demonstrates the latter with their debut album.

Where simplicity can sometimes be the key to success, it means nothing it you don’t have an adept hand to guide your way with the allowance of talent always a welcome infusion into any breed of music. Black metal can easily suffer from bands keeping things too simple, too raw, too primitive to really allow the sound in question to become the best that it can possibly be. There are times and places for such lo-fi creations, of course, but it’s only in instances with acts like Howl and albums like “Drought” that we’re able to bear witness to what the first wave of black metal can still accomplish even decades after its initial closing. Far more than a collection of pale riffs and some dingy production, “Drought” sees Howl absolutely worship that first wave tastefulness to tremendous effect with all the gripping hooks, cold atmospheres, dirges of raw darkness, and heralding of all that is evil that one could ask for. A multi-dimensional creation that is just as capable of quick-form intoxication as well as patient passages that allow “Drought” to really stretch its legs and breathe in more ways than one, Howl has made quite the entrance. It’s far from anything that rocks the sound to its core and is more than enough to be considered a mostly typical blueprint for what the sound has always been associated with, but it’s through impeccable songwriting and a clear understanding of what has always made the sound so alluring that Howl succeeds where countless others have failed. The night cannot hold the menace with which “Drought” wields with deadly intent, and it’s sure to only become even deadlier as time goes on.

Black metal like this is naught but an immediate victory. This is the exact kind of excellence that’s why so many people revere the old veins as much as they still do with loads of that old magic and dark mysticism playing a big part in the whole of these seven tracks with Howl having more than enough talent to set them apart from much of the common rabble that’s seething along the very floor of the underground. “Drought” has far more going for it than I think many of us would initially give it, and it’s because of such a fact that I cannot help but implore you to lose yourself in the dark halls which Howl holds complete dominion over.

LISTEN to “Drought” on Bandcamp here.