The Mist From the Mountains

Today, Primitive Reaction announces October 11th as the international release date for The Mist From the Mountains‘ highly anticipated second album, Portal – The Gathering of Storms, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.

It was but the very beginning of 2022 when The Mist From the Mountains released their momentous debut album, Monumental – The Temple of Twilight, through Primitive Reaction. The record was presciently titled, too: hailing from the ever-fertile Finnish scene, The Mist From the Mountains were a brand-new formation with a very old heart, with their chilling-yet-breathtaking ruminations harkening to the golden days of melodic, nature-inspired black metal back during the mid ’90s. Names invoked included old Borknagar, Kvist, Old Man’s Child, Norway’s Gehenna, and even earliest Dimmu Borgir, but on the songwriting strength across Monumental, these still-young Finns were well on their way to forging an odyssey all their own.

Two years later, The Mist From the Mountains return to deliver the next awe-inspiring chapter of that saga. Titled Portal – The Gathering of Storms, the band’s second album is indeed the next part of a trilogy, but whereas the not-inconsiderable debut was but a mere 38 minutes, this second full-length is an epic near-hour of mesmerizing majesty, its golden rays stretching infinitely beyond the horizon – laced with black, of course. Truly, Portal‘s textures are equally summer and autumnal: the warm embrace of the sun, with the stern suggestion (or at least austere awareness of) the eventual cold, and of course those mossy, turn-to-brown sensations of fall’s inexorable transitions to darker, colder days. 

But, that’s simply a surface sweep of The Mist From the Mountains‘ ever-growing sonic palette, for thematically, Portal is quite a different beast. A sea-themed album, the band explore its standing as untamed, dynamic force of nature that cannot be negotiated with: equally fierce, calm, and beautiful in all its inconsolability. As such, the Finns stretch their songwriting to more varied lengths; the melancholy and longing typical of Finnish music is fully accounted for, but there’s a pronounced emphasis on immediate(ly hummable) melodies, cleaner vocals, and more engaging downtempos. One could call it more accessible, and that one would not be totally wrong, but more so does Portal reveal The Mist From the Mountains as weavers of utterly cinematic soundscapes, of magick and wonder taking fuller flight (and hitting waterier depths) that put the band in league with the likes of Moonsorrow, and Borknagar. But, lest one think that this is a more “mainstream” move, the album is not without its share of blasting battle-rage, betraying a truly vast canvas that can now only be distinctly The Mist From the Mountains.

The sea is a portal to new worlds – and, in mythology, also to the afterlife. The Mist From the Mountains once again paint an absolutely poignant picture with Portal – The Gathering of Storms, and hereby cement their status as Finnish folkloric masters.

Hear for yourself with the brand-new track “The Seer of Ages” here:

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for The Mist From the Mountains’ Portal – The Gathering of Storms
1. And So Flew the Death Crow [10:11]
2. The Seer of Ages [7:59]
3. At the Roots of the Vile [8:38]
4. Among the Black Waves [10:43]
5. In Longing Times [8:19]
6. Saiva [10:28]

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Today, nature-inspired black metallers The Mist From the Mountains premiere the new track “A Paean to Fire“. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Monumental – The Temple of Twilight, set for international release on January 28th, 2022 via Primitive Reaction. Hear The Mist From the Mountains‘ “A Paean to Fire” in its entirety here:

Hailing from the ever-fertile Finnish scene, The Mist From the Mountains are a brand-new formation with a very old heart. Their chilling-yet-breathtaking ruminations harken to the golden days of melodic, nature-inspired black metal, back during the mid ’90s. Names invoked include old Borknagar, Kvist, Arckanum, Old Man’s Child, Norway’s Gehenna, and even earliest Dimmu Borgir – but on evidence of their first public recording, the full-length Monumental – The Temple of Twilight, The Mist From the Mountains are well on their way to forging an odyssey all their own.

Encompassing six songs across 38 minutes, Monumental – The Temple of Twilight is simultaneously swift and expansive. Right from the spine-tingling anticipation of the album’s portentous opening, The Mist From the Mountains soon whip forth a fury that’s paradoxically widescreen, cloaked in splendorous synths which spark the imagination and send the listener into a righteous reverie. Indeed, energy is always foremost for the five-piece, with two vocalists – Kim Strömsholm and Tuomas Karhumäki – handling duties with equal aplomb. However, as with the best nature-inspired black metal metal, tempos are downshifted (and often) into proud marches, making the dynamics hit that much harder. Throughout, battle rage and folkloric wonder weave in and out as needed, the quintet threading the seemingly disparate elements together like true masters. Thus, The Mist From the Mountains are accurately monikered: towering, mysterious, even magickal, yet also hazy and almost amorphous. And this is but the start for this still-young band…

The old gods live on. And they make a grand re-entrance with The Mist From the Mountains‘ Monumental – The Temple of Twilight!

Hear the previously revealed “Master of Wilderness” HERE at Primitive Reaction‘s official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for The Mist From the Mountains’ Monumental – The Temple of Twilight
1. Empyrean Fields [6:32]
2. A Paean to Fire [5:43]
3. Thus Spake the Tongueless Spirit [5:08]
4. With the Sun and the Skies and Birds Above [8:32]
5. Master of Wilderness [5:18]
6. After God [6:30]