Purity Through Fire presents Written In Torment's fourth album, Black Command, on CD and vinyl LP formats. The CD version will be released on July 4th, while the vinyl will follow later this year.
Hailing from the oft-overlooked UK black metal scene, Written In Torment have been patiently perfecting their craft for nearly 20 years now. A demo and EP followed in quick succession in 2006, followed by a hiatus until 2013, when the debut album Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes was released. Written In Torment is helmed by mainman Leviathan, and he kept pace with a split in 2014, a demo in 2015, and then two full-lengths, Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum and Maledictus Dies Illa, in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
And now, at long last, Written In Torment deliver their masterwork: Black Command. Presciently titled, Black Command finds Leviathan hitting a fever pitch of creativity, recasting old ghosts of '90s epic/melodic black metal - Throne Of Ahaz, Abyssos, Midvinter, Prophanity, and Amsvartner among others - into dazzling new shapes. Rest assured, in word and deed is Black Command black metal to the hilt, but by no means does it strident traditionalism hinder it in the least.
Ripping chops and deft textural layering take center stage across the album's six-song / 41-minute runtime, creating a compact canvas that's somehow vast, which is to say nothing of the well-timed incorporation of acoustic guitars and cinematic synths. All this is filtered into a thematic framework focusing on the life and crimes of Jonathan Martin, the infamous arsonist of the Minster Cathedral in York. Joining Leviathan here - and no doubt adding further fuel to the fire - are Prometheus on lead guitars and keyboards and drummer Storm (Blasphemer, Bal-Sagoth, My Dying Bride).
Graced with austere-yet-gorgeous artwork courtesy of Andrej Bartulović, Black Command should surely herald the grand arrival of Written In Torment.
Tracklisting:
"Anger Road"
"Contra Passo"
"The Allure Of The Dark"
"Mors Ultima"
"Black Command"
"Dies Irae"
Listen to "Contra Passo" now:
