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Glad to get this one, as while I have not really loved a Dwarrowdelf album since their second disc, Of Dying Lights (which I really should review), I generally like all their output. I am a good audience for what is nowadays called "Atmospheric" Black Metal, which is generally music that walks in the shadow of Summoning, Falkenbach, and Burzum. Sometimes this kind of thing is more aggressive, sometimes so mellow it is almost ambient. Dwarrowdelf are generally in the middle, neither too much of one thing or another.

Really just the product of one-man, multi-instrumentalist Tom O'Dell, this act has garnered a solid reputation in the genre with now five full-length albums and a scattering of singles. I like the music on here quite well, and at its best it is evocative and sets a definite mood. The vocals this time are much more aggressive, with an upfront recording job that sometimes buries the music, and a lower, almost Death Metal style of delivery that doesn't really go with the vibe. It's never a good sign when you find yourself wanting the vocalist to stop so you can hear the music. O'Dell's clean singing is always good to hear, and where it is used here it is so much better than the intrusive growls. When all the elements are more even, as on "To Dust We All Return," then this album really comes together.

This feels like a transitional work to me, as the compositions are overall heavier and more aggressive, and the addition of the harsher vocal attack, while it does not really fit, says that O'Dell is still pushing his sound and trying to find just the right balance. There is less of a reliance on tremolo riffs and a tendency toward chunkier playing, which makes this sound less like the usual. Some of that is good, some not as much. If you like bands like Elffor or Eldamar, then this is a band you should check out if you have not.