Review by Felix on October 3, 2023.

Commander Agares is another “band” from Finland. Actually it is just another one-man-project. But how else could it be, we are talking about a country with 5.5 million inhabitants the roughly the same number of metal units? Agares, the commander behind the project, performs a pretty melancholic yet sometimes still furious form of, naturally, pure black metal. On the one hand, his compositions sound very Scandinavian, on the other hand he has an affinity for Colombian’s Inquisition. His good taste is documented by 'From The Top Of Last Standing Mountain'. I did not know that the other mountains have begun to fall down one by one, anyway, it cannot be denied that some guitar licks of this track lie in very close proximity to the strange sounds Inquisition are able to create. And “lie in very close proximity” is a polite description… nevertheless, it’s a cool track with some unexpected parts. Especially its (oriental or folkloric?) ending is a surprise, but I also did not anticipate the weird break in the centre of the song.

Agares has a solid instinct for genre-compatible melodies which express pain, solitude and hate. Even though or maybe exactly because he does not focus on sheer frenzy, there is often a spooky atmosphere shimmering through his sonic creations. More difficult is the production. By the way, is this a production or only a reverb? Either way, the sight is blurred. 'Legions Of Descending Twilight' generates a sonic mist and sometimes I wish the artist would have chosen a slightly more transparent technical approach. In some moments, his distorted voice borders on parody and I don’t think that this can be the last word on the subject. But maybe he just wanted to show his loyalty to the true underground of the genre? Thank God, I can adapt to many things and therefore I am no fan of this kind of mix, but after a few spins I do not think about it any longer.

Let’s get back to the music. 'Blessed By Hyperborean Storms' is not only a patriotic statement, but a song with a surprisingly expressiveness. Due to the general sound deficits – or should I say special effects – keyboards and guitars coalesce into each other and a cold, beastly yet attractive mood is the result. As the title progresses, Agares does not shy away from delivering some nearly clean vocals. Of course, the production actually prevents truly clean elements, but the artist changes his style of singing. Indeed, 'Legions Of Descending Twilight' does not suffer from a lack of variety and even the spiritual aspects of the genre do not come off badly. This does not mean that each and every of the seven songs hits the bull’s eye, but all of them have enough substance to form a coherent full-length. Moreover, the artwork reflects the musical approach in a suitable and pretty stylish manner. Therefore I hope some more black metal supporters will lend an ear to the sounds of this lone warrior before he got lost in hyperborean storms or somewhere else. His debut is neither sensational nor revolutionizing, but a resilient representative of its fascinating genre.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10