I Am The Night: While The Gods Are Sleeping

I Am the Night is a black metal act formed by members from notable Finnish metal acts including Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, Paradise Lost and others. The band’s debut album is titled While The Gods Are Sleeping and is set for release on May 6th, 2022.

From a stylistic view point this album is the sort of black metal that I can really get into. It’s relatively true to the typical Black metal elements throughout-pummelling drums, tremolo picked riffs, screeching vocals etc., however the album contains a strong melodic and atmospheric bias which makes While the Gods are Sleeping a relatively ‘easy listen’ for this style of music. Guitarist Vanhala notes major influence from some truly essential black metal albums; “In The Nightside Eclipse, Storm Of The Light’s Bane and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas opened the gate to the dark side for me years ago, as can be heard from the music we make with I Am The Night.� The three albums noted are all dead set classics of the genre and I am the Night have done a great job of tapping into, and blending these classic styles on their first release- it truly does sound like the love child from a menage et trois between Emperor, Dissection and Mayhem. Lyrically the album is very strong too, vocalist Solaterä explains - “Our songs are stories about the worship of night and the triumph of the powers of darkness. At night, sun to his slumber and shadows all over, the forces of the night rise to the heavens, cast angels out and usher in a new era of individual freedom�. The fact that the band has such a focussed lyrical theme and gives the album additional impact. I really admire that the band have such a strong thematic aspect to their sound and approach from day one.

The production on the release is very strong. It’s modern sounding and really quite polished, but the guitar tones and placement of synths in the mix certainly throws back to the Dissection and Emperor albums noted above. My favourite tracks are "Hear me O’Unmaker", "I am The Night", and the bookends, "While the Gods are Sleeping" and "Holocaust of The Angels". The bookends are both relatively concise pieces which focus on setting the tone and closing the album in style rather than sticking with typical song structures. Neither would be suitable as a single, but in the context of the album both serve their purpose particularly well.

Given the pedigree of the contributors it’s not a surprise that this is a quality and enjoyable album. While The Gods Are Sleeping is one of the better black metal albums I’ve discovered this year, and I’m hopeful that the contributors will continue to pursue this band in the future. It would be a shame if this ended up being a one-off “pandemic project’.

Track listing

1. While the Gods are Sleeping
2. Hear Me O’ Unmaker
3. Dawnbearer
4. Ode to the Nightsky
5. I am the Night
6. The Owl
7. Among the Unseen Ones
8. Holocaust of The Angels

Added: May 2nd 2022
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 711
Language: english

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