Band:	Hekseblad
Album:	Kaer Morhen
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	April 2024

01. School Of The Wolf
02. A Grain Of Truth (Nivellen's Waltz)
03. The White Flame
04. The Taste Of Ash
05. Ithlinne's Prophecy
06. Kaer Morhen [feat. Sörjande]
07. Mastercrafted
08. The Fall Of The Northern Realms
09. Sodden
10. Vatt'ghern

Move over Tolkien, there's a new fantasy inspiration for black metal in town.

As far as literary inspiration for metal in general, and the black metal branch especially, there's little that comes even close to how much Tolkien's work has served as inspiration. The numbers don't lie!. Even compared to other authors, whether old classics like Shakespeare, Goethe, or Alighieri, or more modern classics like Poe, Lovecraft, or Stoker, or more contemporary ones like King, Herbert, or Martin, it seems like metal just loves referencing this one fantasy universe. Sure, other fantasy worlds exist, even ones that are popular outside the usual fantasy circles, but finding bands that reference the Harry Potter or the A World Of Ice And Fire or the Cosmere or the Wheel Of Time universes still seems like a novelty. And the same goes for Hekseblad, who take inspiration from another fantasy literary world, another one whose real life popularity exceeds the usual fantasy geeks. Some of the best fantasy books ever written, some of the best video games ever made (including the Gwent one), and... yep, that's about it... and now metal!

Alright, Hekseblad might not be the only nor the first band to take inspiration from The Witcher series. Metal-Archives currently gives me six other bands who do. But, not only are they more than a one-man band (being a two man band comprised of a vocalist and an everything-elser, which is the closest thing, but still different), and not only are they signed to a significant label (Hypnotic Dirge), but I've also covered them before. This and my love for the series they take inspiration from probably explains why I chose to cover this, because I have to admit that I'm not sure I would have been compelled to cover Kaer Morhen were it not for these two facts. I don't mean to say that it's an unappealing record. It's above average black metal that's mostly raw and atmospheric, but that "above average" is a bit of an exaggeration of a seed of truth.

Strip the album of its gimmick and you still have plenty to appreciate. There's clearly a lot of love given to the second wave of black metal, and the rawness that comes with it. The rawness I only find to negatively affect the sound quality when it comes to some of the drumming, though not enough to really take me out of it, and it's also something I can expect to be mended in time. Other than that, the howling vocals and the cold riffing work pretty well to create an oppressive but familiar soundscape. Ornated with some acoustic and folky interludes, as all good atmospheric black metal is, offers some respite in the flow, but a lot of the black metal also goes into a pretty melodic direction, offering a fair share of moments that do stand out as doing more than just creating a black metal skeleton to carry the gimmick. But only a bit more than the bare minimum.

In the end, Kaer Morhen is far from the worst piece of media related to The Witcher. Far from the best too. It's a novelty, and a decent album that fans of this branch of black metal will find appealing. There was clearly effort put into this, and it could've been a lot blander, and I'm grateful that it's not. Until the wind will howl again!