Black Metal

For a decade now, Finland’s WHITE DEATH have built a small-yet-formidable canon of work that’s come to define modern underground black metal in their nation. It’s no secret that Finland has possessed one of the most potent black metal scenes from the early ’90s onward, and with each new generation that picks up the torch, some are contenders and others are just content to uphold “the Finnish sound.” WHITE DEATH took their time with deploying demos and then their debut album, simply self-titled, but they occupied a unique position between those poles: steeped in noble tradition, but exuding a confidence and charisma that rendered White Death an exceptionally nasty work even with its considerably cleaner production. Three years of silence followed between the release of that debut album and the three-song Promo 2020, which included an Enochian Crescent cover – an inspired choice from an oft-unsung legend, and a portent of grandeur to come.

Black Metal

Although a brand-new entity, WHITE RUNE are a duo of SIELUNVIHOLLINEN frontman Ruttokieli on vocals, guitar, bass, and keyboards and his drummer brother Soldau, also currently of Ehre. In 2021, they exploded into being with two shockingly accomplished demos, The Spell of Winter Holocaust and The Eternal Fires of Cleansing, showing a new face to Finnish black metal by, paradoxically, harkening back to old times. And now that face is fully revealed with the full-length Dawn of the White Rune. Indeed consolidating WHITE RUNE’s considerable strengths, the band’s aptly titled debut album bursts forth with an effervescence that’s undeniable – and undeniably unique, within the wider sphere of Finnish black metal. With vampiric organ to the fore but thankfully eluding the mawkish excess of “vampiric black metal,” WHITE RUNE proceed to wind and wend through an ever-surging storm of mysticism and malevolence. Their violence is real and the passion palpable, but there’s a deft touch to their dynamics here; nightsky splendor and astral awe are always present, no matter the tempo, and actual lead guitar plays an equally central role in conveying the emotions coursing through Dawn of the White Rune. And while comparisons to contemporaneous countrymen Faustian Pact, Vargrav, and Mooncitadel are certainly valid, more accurately could WHITE RUNE here harken back to the late ’90s works of Darkwoods My Betrothed, Thyrane, Alghazanth, Trollheims Grott, and even …And Oceans, thereby bringing the lineage full circle like the Ouroboros itself. To celebrate this momentous occasion, HAMMER OF HATE will also release a compilation titled The Spell of Eternal Fire, bringing together both WHITE RUNE demos. In the meantime, open thine eyes and witness the Dawn of the White Rune!