Although ‘Lost Kingdom Of The Giants’ is the first brain child of Wraithlord, the youthful mind behind Wolves Of Desor, under this moniker, he has been spawning music since 2019. With his main band, simply called Wraithlord, he has been recording and releasing music on a respectable pace, delivering no less than seven full-length albums and a good two hands full of different short players. Still this young man thought he needed something more to express his musical ideas, at least a new vessel to fully cover his visions. And that vessel became Wolves Of Desor…
‘Lost Kingdom Of The Giants’ is a demo that offers five tracks (including intro and outro), spanning well over half an hour and delivers a thoroughly Atmospheric sort of Black Metal that is heavily laced with Folky parts. While Folk-tinged Atmospheric Black Metal in itself is nothing special and has been done by countless of bands since the Norwegian’s started to explore these musical territories, Wraithlord leads his Wolves Of Desor past Lo-Fi soundscapes and equally murky but beautifully crafted Dungeon Synth/Dark Ambient passages. The subdued sort of more or less standard Black Metal screeches touch the realms of Depressive Black Metal and adds to the moody and melancholic atmosphere. But while this all is roughly how all the majority of the Raw/Atmospheric Black Metal music is written, Wraithlord adds quite a an interesting amount of lead guitars to the mix. Yet, just like every other aspect of the music, these leads are just as raw and gritty, making them an integral part of the experience.
The balance between expertly crafted riffs, a good amount of moody keyboards, Folky melodies and the addition of some interesting leads make ‘Lost Kingdom Of The Giants’ a great first effort that definitely makes me look forward to follow-up material.
