Album Review: Blackguard - "Storm"

Glory of glories, the day we dared only dream of has finally arrived!

Studious readers of this page no doubt are aware of my longing for the next Blackguard album.  At the conclusion of every yearly conversation, Chris asks me what I’m looking forward to in the next year, and for every year since it was first announced in 2013, I have listed Blackguard’s “Storm” as one of the premier attraction of the subsequent twelve months.  Long have my hopes been dashed, and yet I kept the faith.

How we got here isn’t important.  What’s important is that we’re here now.

“Storm” is, in short, everything a Blackguard fan could want it to be.  It continues the band’s legacy by simultaneously fusing the farcical high-wire act of “Profugus Mortis,” with the down-and-dirty bulldozing of “Firefight,”  Cutting to the chase, the end product of “Storm” is a textbook in how symphonic death metal (just to mention two of the myriad styles it reflects,) should be executed in the modern era.

And yet, the band accomplishes this awesome feat by making only minor tweaks to their established formula.  Blackguard’s best strength has always been the ability to build atmosphere and strength, properly making a dramatic connection between the theme and pace of their music.  In the case of “Storm” this is most masterfully done during “Clouds,” which serves as a necessary interlude.  The album crashes ahead with the severity of a runaway freight train for the first measure, but “Clouds” is an etheric spacer that draws the listener back in to the gravitas of the album’s last three tracks, which by the by, might be the best sequence on the album.

Diving deeper, even within single tracks, Blackguard skillfully delineates the contrast between high and low tones.  “Visions (of Blood and Gold)” is constructed almost entirely on a foundation of juxtaposition between the arcing melody of a clean guitar and the thunderous rumble of the rhythm beneath.  It creates a depth of field that blends the best of power metal and death metal in a truly unique way.

Much of “Storm,” as we mentioned above, proceeds at a pace that can best be described as blistering, but the band is not afraid to change their pace as the mood suits.  Coming off the airy end of “In Dreams” (itself similar to the transition of “Clouds,”) we are launched into mosh pit fodder with the shambling, pounding gait of “Mourning Star.”  This is the flux point of the album, the end of the first act and commencement of the second, which tells two similar but different stories.

We’ve talked a lot about separation points and transitions for “Storm,” and while it’s true that those are the stand out moments on the record, it’s also true that those are the moment that stand out, if you take the double meaning.  “Storm,” for all its welcome revelations and refreshing breaths in the genre, does suffer from a degree of sameness.  Outside of the immediate, orchestral hook of album starter “By My Hand,” it can take several times listening through the album to really find the distinction between the tracks we haven’t talked about above.  It occasionally feels like the different flavors of guitar solo are the primary changes.

“Storm,” even with that, is a great way to start 2020 and in summation is an album that deserves the listener’s time and recognition.  Blackguard was a rising star upon the time of their hiatus and “Storm” represents the culmination of their evolution, even after a seven-year wait.

The only remaining question to keep fans up at night at this – this album was done years ago.  It took this long to wrest control of it from the label and release it unto the masses.  Will this be the end?  Does the band have an appetite for more?  We can only hope so.