Mithrandir’s debut ‘Towards the Spires of Dol Guldur’ was quite a striking debut. Expertly combining their Finnish Black Metal roots of the likes of Satanic Warmaster and Sargeist with touches of Burzum, Darkthrone and Craft may not result in the most original Black Metal, but their excellent songwriting and beautiful infusion of Dungeon Synth made the album quite memorable for me. Within the same year of release, the band now returns with their newest feat, the two-track EP ‘Valapatto’.
The opening track ‘Kalman Sydän’ further explores their Ambient and Dungeon Synth core, displaying their layered approach to building a cold and melancholic atmosphere. Breaking with the Lord of the Rings thematics of the debut, the song instead describes ‘Kalma’s Heart’, with Kalma being the Finnish goddess of death and decay that lingers in graveyards and cemeteries. Remaining fully instrumental and Ambient throughout it’s nearly four minutes, the song sets a more yearning and sorrowful tone than on the debut. The song then transitions into ‘Valapatto’, which is a further showcase of the band’s delicate mix of raw Black Metal and atmosphere. While a tad less raw than the debut, the contrast of the harsh guitars and piercing shrieks with a more unearthly backdrop of synthesizers may not be extremely original, but it certainly is well-crafted. The dynamics in the programmed drums continuously shift the pace, and in terms of atmosphere it ranges from the icy and haunting to epic and even somewhat otherwordly. With it, the song shows a somewhat more midpaced approach that stronger focusses on atmosphere, comparable to tracks like ‘Khazad-Dûm (Through Halls of the Children of Aulë)’ or ‘Guardians of Fangorn’ that featured on the debut ‘Towards the Spires of Dol Guldur’. With the newest material combining into ten minutes of a melancholic blend of Dungeon Synth and Raw Black Metal, Mithrandir make it clear with ‘Valapatto’ that there is plenty more excellence left in them, and I’m looking forward to hear what else they have in store!
