Laster, from Utrecht, in the Netherlands, have a classic ’90s atmospheric black metal sound – some might label this as DSBM (depressive/suicidal black metal), a term that gained popularity around the time of Leviathan and Xasthur, but Burzum’s spare and vicious nocturnes needed no such moniker back in the day. Others might also tag this as Cascadian, but Drudkh was rushing through wind-jangled forests and screaming into the rain long before the wolves started sniffing around any throne room.

So I’ll stick with the Burzum comparison as a starter, but there’s a grandiose fullness to Laster’s approach which also recalls Emperor’s infamous wall-of-sound on In the Nightside Eclipse, or more recently (well, 2000), the epic apocalyptic heavings of sadly-defunct Bay Area black metal outfit Weakling. This is largely due to an unorthodox use of brass instrumentation (synthesized, most likely) as the bass (particularly in the opener, “In levenskolken, in dadenstorm”) which provides a broad, warm foundation beneath the hive-of-hornets melodic storm above. I can’t quite pick out the instruments – it sounds like French horns, tubas, etc – but it’s a different sound than the vaguely Gothic keyboard swells you usually hear in this kind of atmospheric black metal (again, compare with In the Nightside Eclipse), and it gives the music a unique and mythic tone. The screams are, of course, a formless and pained howl, but perfectly rendered and balanced against the swirling chaos.