Blackbraid - Blackbraid III (2025)^{Release ID: 61703}

In my most recent attempt to rekindle a bond with extreme metal, I have been met with enough suggestions than I know what to do with! Unfortunately, what I appreciate in the music is very different than what most of my colleagues enjoy. One name that has always returned to me has been Blackbraid, a solo melodic/atmospheric black metal project from the state of NY. While I have only truly listened to Blackbraid in passing, songs such as "The Spirit Returns" and "Sadness and the Passage of Time and Memory" have stuck with me, so I figure that now is as good a time as any to dig in with a new album just released this month!

It does need to be said right out of the gate that Blackbraid III is a great album. I believe that the drummer, Neil Schneider, is the albums producer and mixer and the sound of the album is nothing short of spellbinding. For an artist that is as fiercely independent as Blackbraid claims to be, Blackbraid III has better mixing than many of the modern day "mainstream" black metal artists. I'm sure that there are record labels who specialize in black metal that would be salivating to have Blackbraid join their catalogue one day. The album has tremendous blending between the guitar, bass, percussion and vocals. The guitar in particular has a crucial role on this endeavour; carrying some of the albums most infectious moments. The riffing is varied and unique, and play great chemistry with the vocals.

The record has plenty of Native American and traditional Americana flavour added to keep things interesting. I would not be surprised if Sgah’gahsowáh came out and listed Austin Lunn as a source of influence for their music, because the mimicking of Panopticon's sound is undeniable. Whether that be in songs like "God of Black Blood", the opening of the record "Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of my Death" or any of the acoustic interludes interspersed with nature sounds of campfire cackling, rivers flowing or wolves howling, however cliche that might sound.

That influence from Panopticon is also felt in the lyrics. The lyrics are painted with a level of continuity between the tracks as themes of "fading light" the "forlorn of the dark" and "sacred offerings" are referenced frequently throughout Blackbraid III. "The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag" is one of the more heart-twisting tunes on the album as the title stag, the "great keeper of twilight", grows old and passes away from the mortal world into the moss covered ground and nightfall engulfs the sky. The Lord Belial cover of "Fleshbound" that ends the album tells of the protagonist tearing their flesh from the body so that the pained soul can be free. It is an album of dark meaning, but delivered in such a way to make it sound just as wonderful to the listener as it would to a devote believer. (I personally do not know which Indigenous nation Sgah’gahsowáh is associated with, so that last statement is purely speculation).

The biggest issue with Blackbraid III is probably its interludes. The record has three (four if you count "Dusk (Eulogy)") interludes, but Blackbraid could have easily gotten away with just two. The interlude "The Earth Is Weeping" does not really do that much for me at this point in the track list. "Traversing the Forest of Eternal Dusk" is great with the inclusion of a electric guitar solo, while "Like Wind Through the Reeds Making Waves Like Water" serves as a nice change of pace in between the albums two longest tracks.  As well, even though I already mentioned how good the main melodic songwriting is, this album does have a tendency to shift styles a little too frequently. One of my least favourite examples is the quasi thrash riff that consumes most of the middle section of "And He Became the Burning Stars..." but the doom riff that ends "Tears of the Dawn" is wonderful.

Blackbraid III is a nice little project that shows signs of progress. I think as a collective, this album has the worse production than Blackbraid II, but the benefit of better songwriting. This record is more precise with shorter songs and a slightly more brisk runtime, as well as more impactful themes.

Best Songs: Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of my Death, The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag, Traversing the Forest of Eternal Dusk, Tears of the Dawn

It feels like Blackbraid has been around forever, when in fact it is just a mere three years of existence for the indigenous black metal solo artist from the Adirondack Mountains. Despite my confusion over how long Blackbraid has been around, this is the first time that I have gotten around to listening to one of his albums. I was interested in the beginning but then (bizarrely) I got pissed off with the constant flood of marketing emails I was getting from him and so I senselessly punished him and myself by not listening to his albums. What a twat I am sometimes.

Nowadays, Vinny comes with some degree of in-built maturity about him and so can understand that for a fearsomely independent artist such as Blackbraid, who must have a queue of labels after him by now, promotion is key to his success. The other element that is central to being successful of course is the quality of your music and album number three certainly delivers on that front. Unafraid to fire some leads into the equation, Sgah'gahsowáh can work beyond just tremolos and blastbeats. His racing and urgently paced tracks carry some real attack behind them. Channelling as much Uada as he does Immortal on tracks such as ‘The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag’, there’s a fair old bit of power behind those punches that he throws.

As we would expect from a largely atmospheric-black metal act, there are fleeting acoustic passages and flurries of natural sounds akin to Panopticon, alongside the more direct and aggressive black metal sounds. From looking at the eye-catching artwork on the cover (a combination of border work by Adrian Baxter and imagery form Adam Burke) it is hard not to expect some of the more spiritual aspects we get here. There’s no surprises on the album. From a brand perspective, the listener should find exactly what was advertised is delivered.

My first impression of Blackbraid is that this is an incredibly well-written and skilfully performed record. Drummer Neil Schneider puts in a shift behind the skins that supports the rest of the sounds well enough. The guitar in the main is the element that shines however, alongside those harsh vocals they make quite a combo with the melodic leads and harsh riffs to boot. I guess I could criticise the three instrumentals as starting to get a little old by the time we get to track eight. However, they do all serve a purpose and aren’t directionless sounds of motion like whatever it is that is going on with the opening of the latest Drudkh album. There is a much richer melodic bm vein to the record than I was expecting based on previous reviews I have heard of his work. Whilst I won’t go over the top with praise for Blackbraid III, it is a good album. Its use of interludes aside, it is structurally sound and although I will probably not rush out to buy a physical copy I will try to make up for some lost time with Blackbraid by enjoying this record many more times in the coming weeks, months and years.