Today, Purity ThroughFire announces March 21st as the international release date for Heraldic Blaze‘s debut demo, Blazoned Heraldry, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats.
From moniker to visual aesthetic and especially to the sonics themselves, Heraldic Blaze are encapsulating the oft-nebulous “medieval black metal” idiom with startling aplomb. While it’s often difficult to discern exactly what medieval BM is other than a pithy “I know it when I hear it,” Heraldic Blaze leave no doubt as to their intentions.
Witness their debut demo, Blazoned Heraldry. The duo of American multi-instrumentalist Argent Pale (vocals, bass, flute) and Norwegian guitarist Peregrinus (Hjemsøkt, Solus Grief, Unholy Craft, Kvad) create a spellbinding tapestry of rustic tones and textures. In fact, on texture alone – kinda clean and clanging, yet with more than a hint of ghostly grit and almost surfy reverb – Heraldic Blaze stand out, but it’s how they utilize those textures in the service of songwriting: winding and wild, frothing up to an almost-dangerous delirium, but more often than not leaving wide-open spaces to let their medieval melodicism bend and sway with bravado and bittersweetness. And as actual flute flutters in from time to time, the sum effect, more often than not, is ALIEN – unsettling and alluring in equal measure.
While “merely” a demo recording, Heraldic Blaze‘s first work already trounces most modern works of “black metal.” Unorthodox and unbound, Blazoned Heraldry is mandatory listening for fans of Sühnopfer, Ungfell, Grylle, Heltekvad, and particularly mid-2000s Peste Noire.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Torchbearers of Our Time” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Heraldic Blaze’s Blazoned Heraldry
1. Torchbearers of Our Time
2. The Accolade of Truth
3. Far Shooting Apollo
4. A Sovereign Spire
5. The Knight’s Folly
66. Scourge of the Sycophant