Adorn "Grace" LP

Adorn have always put themselves in a very specific time and place when it comes to their music. Self-styled as “romantic black metal,” they lay heavy on atmosphere, yes, but also their choice of instrumentation evokes that very difficult to describe sense of ethereal romance that so many chase and few end up mastering. The original trio from the Grace EP is back, with Coeur Loyale handling guitar, bass, vocals and songwriting, Valiant Desire adding violin, piano and choral arrangements, and Bon Valour on drums. The strings and piano are not just gimmicks either; rather, they’re a huge centerpiece of the music, maybe even more than the guitars. The way everything blends together is so enchanting, reminiscent of castles and knights and royalty without being castle metal. It’s positively dreamlike, which goes along with the UK-based trio’s ethos: transcendence of art once liberated from the sterile confines of modernity, to the melancholy of deserted halls, and to the fading glimmer of courtly love. One of the things that Adorn have always done right, and one of the things that compelled me to dive into their music headfirst, is their ability to transport the listener to a very specific mental and temporal space; their music is incredibly affecting, and it perfectly captures that sense of devotion and affection that is at the core of real romantic music.

Released by Northern Silence on etched amber vinyl.