Hailing from the Evergreen State, a new Black Metal alliance has been formed. Runeblade is a two-man project consisting of Krieger (Iron Firmament, Lander, Unkindness) and S.C. (Ebony Pendant, Griefspell). If you are unfamiliar with these two, then I highly recommend you digest ‘Heroic Lands’ and ‘Incantation of Eschatological Mysticism’ to help you delve further into the realm of Cascadian Black Metal.
Runeblade has recently released their demo ‘En Garde’, on the still fresh label Wergild, which hosts a bunch of great and unique releases within the Cascadian Black Metal underground. ‘En Garde’ itself is raw, cutting and energetic. The pacing is decently fast with militant blastbeats and victorious riffs that often give way to groovier thrash infused sections like the song ‘Chimeric Godself (Such I Become)’ that does this extremely well. If the song isn’t currently using thrash type grooves or classic Black Metal riffing, it’s an otherworldly atmospheric section with some retro sounding synths that send this demo into a mystical, dark fantasy realm.
‘En Garde’ shows that a collaboration between S.C. and Krieger is something we unknowingly needed. And now need more of! The raw, punkish sound blended with an almost dark fantasy motif makes for some very engaging Black Metal that I recommend to anyone looking for something a bit different.
