Black Lava – The Savage Winds of Wisdom

Black Lava – The Savage Winds of Wisdom
Release Date: 12th July 2024
Label: Season of Mist
Bandcamp
Genre: Blackened Death Metal, Sludge, Progressive, Doom, Black n Roll.
FFO: Gaerea, Hath, Panzerfaust, Blackhelm, Ósserp, 1914.
Review By: Rick Farley

Only two years removed from their smouldering debut album Soul Furnace, Black Lava savagely return with their crushing follow up The Savage Winds to Wisdom being released on July 17^th, 2024, via Season of Mist. Born from the same darkened mould as their debut, this new record takes everything that is great about the first one and smashes it into a whole new stratosphere. Between songwriting, musicianship and maturity, this record erupts with blazing familiarity, only now more noticeably impactful. 

For those uninitiated, Black Lava was born at the peak of worldwide isolation in 2020-2021. Originally spawned out of frustration, Black Lava quickly became more than just jam sessions. Old school death metal influence with large flourishes of blackened melodies, doomy sludginess and progressive undertones. Being very guitar forward, pushing the envelope of its structures and layers, guitarist/bassist Ben Boyle lays out an engaging soundscape to get deeply engulfed by. Ripe with ugly swampiness and subtle hardcore aspects that metallicize the loose atmosphere with sharp tension, The Savage Winds to Wisdom is grimy, dissonant, and memorable. If that does not make sense to you, think blackened guitar riffs that break off into weaving stringy airiness only to shift into nasty, serrated grooves. Powered by the blistering drums of Dan Presland, each track is a lesson in high musicianship. Serving the song while being a total fucking beast on the kit. The performance from Dan is next level, showing incredible precision, power, and the ability to still feel organic. Vocalist Rob Watkins, in my opinion, was the perfect choice for this band. He has a roaring growl that is intelligible while still sounding harsh. He goes in and out of raspiness and growling to near hardcore type yells. All of this gives Black Lava a uniqueness in sound when everything comes together, but still extremely memorable. It leans heaviest on blackened death metal for those of you that need a general description. But truly it is far more than that. 

The Savage Winds to Wisdom, true to its name, is a savage swirling storm that will forcibly snatch you up, squeeze you within an inch of your life and heave you into the side of a wall while still being loaded with dark and eerie atmosphere despite its violent, energetic shell. Unorthodox song structures, compelling vocals, unique guitar patterns and varying paced drums bring a huge amount of diversity within the tracks while maintaining its concise direction. Tracks like Colour of Death combine tremolo picked, flesh searing guitars with doomy atmospheric tones, only to transition to full on blasting underneath spiderweb like black metal patterns. Dark Legacy charges like a swaying bull; crunchy swagger that is built off death metal aggression and groovy hardcore flourishes, complete with gang vocals. While Summoning Shadows builds its doomy walls of sound into a wicked metallic pummelling. The amount of depth and complexity on this record will lend itself to repeated listens and just get better and better each time as it reveals more. It is completely balanced; brutal but extremely catchy. 

Recorded at Bushido Studios in Melbourne, Australia. The Savage Winds to Wisdom was produced by Troy Mccosker and mixed/mastered/engineered by Studio Fredman and Fredrick Nordstrom. The album is crisp, clear, raw, and sound as if it could burn your flesh. 

I was lucky to have reviewed the first album and absolutely gushed about that one as well, Black Lava scratches a particular itch when you need music that is heavy, groovy, and gritty with the ability to affect your consciousness like a burrowing infestation penetrating your skull. This is a run, don’t walk to the nearest available listening source and ignite your world afire.

(5 / 5)