Review by Sonny for Pan-Amerikan Native Front - Little Turtle's War (2021)

Pan-Amerikan Native Front is a solo project of Kurator of War (Alan Avitia), formed to tell the history of the indiginous nations of the Americas. Little Turtle's War is a concept album based around The Battle of the Wabash, and the defeat of the American army by the Western Confederacy of Native Americans on 4th November 1791, a battle that would prove to be the Native Americans greatest ever victory.
The album takes the form of searing and devastating black metal that, despite the intense blasting of tracks like Power of the Calumet Dance and Battle of the Wabash, still manages to convey some of the rhythms long associated with more traditional Native American music, albeit not overtly or directly. The tracks are exhilharating and fresh-sounding and the concept is intriguing, urging me to find out more about the battle and it import. A really impressive slab of war-themed black metal that successfully conveys the savagery and brutality of 18th century hand-to-hand conflict, whilst still allowing for contrasting moments of beauty such as The Whispering Oak interlude.