IN APHELION

In a particularly strong year for black metal, it will take an album of considerable brilliance to stand out from the nefarious hordes. "Reaperdawn" is not the only contender for that position, but it is certainly one of the most convincing and undeniable. The brainchild of NECROPHOBIC guitarist Sebastian Ramstedt, IN APHELION laid the groundwork with their "Luciferian Age" EP (2021) and "Moribund" debut (2022): two of the most zealous and epic black metal releases in recent times, but both delivered with a spiteful, heavy metal fist to the face. Now expanded to a quartet, with the addition of bassist Tobias Cristiansson (also of NECROPHOBIC),  Ramstedt's crew make a giant forward leap on album number two. Primarily concerned with notions of sun-worshipping death cults, "Reaperdawn" is so ravenous, unstoppable and inadvertently psychedelic that it may yet inspire some insane cult of its own. This is a wild ride.

Liberated from the voluntarily myopic, blackened death of NECROPHOBIC, Ramstedt cuts a freewheeling, fearless figure. IN APHELION's ferocity is the first thing that hits, but as these songs expand and mutate, it becomes clear that the Swede's vision extends far beyond high-velocity black metal. "The Fields in Nadir" is an opening salvo designed to deliver concussion, with drummer Marco Prij (CRYPTOSIS) annihilating the speed barrier with little recourse to dynamics. His drumming throughout "Reaperdawn" is nothing short of astonishing, but he has much more to do than just blast ad nauseam.

From the magnificently windswept "A Winter Moon's Gleam" onwards, IN APHELION seem to grow in stature and potency with every song. "When All Stellar Light Is Lost" is a dizzying blur of furious riffing that straddles the irrevocably weird and the defiantly old school, and with a grimly gothic mid-section that leads to a truly brilliant solo from Ramstedt; one that proudly screams its love for MAIDEN and PRIEST, but with an acid-fueled twist. "The Darkening" takes a more restrained route, albeit with a certain malevolent swagger. It's a clangorous blizzard of guitars and morbid threats, underpinned by true-to-the-bone metal chops (again, Prij is extraordinary),  and with venomous lyrics spat out by a real, fire-belching demon. Or at least that's what it sounds like. Ramstedt really is having a tremendous time, as the overwhelming power of his band flows through his third eye and into the stratosphere.

Visceral and cosmic in equal parts, IN APHELION are such a phenomenal heavy metal band, that countless clever details fly by before truly registering in the brain. Superficially, "They Fell Under Blackened Skies" is an out-and-out speed attack, but as it evolves, it embraces stirring but bittersweet guitar melodies, and nods respectfully to SLAYER, before bringing the thrash hammer down again. As it veers away into the frostbitten dark for an icy final descent, it packs a powerful emotional punch. "Further From The Sun" is similarly memorable and obtuse, with its stately, melodic core, grainy, '80s metal distortions, and a chorus that is as direct and accessible as can be. The title track takes a contrasting approach, with a succinct storm of speed metal grimness that somehow keeps escalating and gaining intensity throughout its four, febrile minutes, like some runaway train hurtling towards certain doom. The closing "Aghori" may or may not be about strange post-mortem rituals, but it takes IN APHELION ever further into the pitch black.

Disgustingly heavy and yet still assuredly off-beam, it is the sound of a band stretching out and reveling in the consequences. Most of all, it sounds imperious. "Reaperdawn" is a work of highly evolved infernal art, with a pulsating heavy metal heart and a slight air of maniacal evangelism. What more could any dedicated cult member want from a soundtrack to the rapturous end of all things?