- Double LP on Emerald Green & Bone Marbled 180g Vinyl packaged in a deluxe, matte finish, gatefold featuring artwork by Adrian Baxter
- Includes a single page insert featuring the historical “Indian Fire God” painting by Frederic Remington.
Blackbraid — Blackbraid II (2023) — Review
Blackbraid II takes what made the debut hit (melody, speed, wide-open nature-atmosphere) and scales it up into a full-length journey—bigger runtime, bigger emotional range, and a lot more “long-form” black metal storytelling. It was released independently on July 7, 2023.
Where Blackbraid I felt like a perfect, sharp blast of adrenaline, II is the campfire-to-blizzard version: it breathes, wanders, surges, then drags you back into the trees for another sprint. Some people will love the expanded scope; others will feel the length (it’s roughly ~65 minutes depending on edition/platform)
How it sounds
Melodic, forward-charging black metal first—tremolo riffs and blasting—but with a clear sense of “terrain” in the writing (you can feel the Adirondack air in the pacing and chord choices).
More dynamic contrast than the debut: shorter interludes and mood pieces (“Spells…”, “Celestial Passage”) act like scene changes between the big epics.
The album’s center of gravity is those two long mid-album pillars, which many reviewers point to as the statement pieces.
Standout moments (what usually hooks people)
- “The Spirit Returns”: sets the tone—melody + aggression locked together, and it’s one of the most consistently praised tracks.
- “The Wolf That Guides the Hunter’s Hand”: classic Blackbraid “gallop,” with that windswept heroism under the blasts.
- “Moss Covered Bones…” + “A Song of Death on Winds of Dawn”: the album’s big cinematic core—long-form compositions that show the full toolbox (melody, pacing, atmosphere, escalation).
- “Twilight Hymn of Ancient Blood”: gets singled out for its heavier, riff-driven swing and momentum shifts.
- “Sadness and the Passage of Time and Memory”: the reflective gut-punch—slower, more melancholic, and a key emotional anchor.
The verdict
If Blackbraid I was the spark that lit the fire, Blackbraid II is the full trek—more scenic, more ambitious, and more likely to reward repeat listens (especially if you enjoy black metal that earns its long runtimes with genuine movement and mood). It’s not “background” black metal; it’s an album you put on when you want to go somewhere.
