Review by Vladimir on January 2, 2023.

In the world of black metal or extreme metal in general, if there is anything that will always attract my attention, it would definitely be bands with album covers done by Kristian “Necrolord” Wåhlin. Every time I see an album with his cover art, be it colored blue, purple or red, I know that it’s gonna be good, unless it’s “Nocturnal” by Black Dahlia Murder, which ain’t really my cup of tea. In this review I will be discussing the Finnish black metal band I Am The Night and their debut full-length album While The Gods Are Sleeping, released via Svart Records on May 6th 2022. This band has already presented themselves with the single 'Hear Me O’ Unmaker' a year before the album’s release, which was but a glimpse of the dark angel that would spread his wings again. Although the band’s name and the album title didn’t seem so promising at first, I managed to pull myself together and convince myself that this may not be an “eye candy” after all and that I might enjoy it for what it is. What will the night, or I Am The Night, bring while the gods are sleeping?

If by any chance you expected black metal in the vein of Dissection and Emperor, then you came to the right place my friend. You will notice influences from both bands and you’ll hear a plenty of tremolo picking riffs with epic melodies, double-bass drumming, blast beats, a short instance of mid-tempo riffing and drumming ('The Owl'), harsh vocals with growling back vocals and epic singing ('The Owl', 'Among The Unseen Ones'), and keyboards that ooze with nocturnal atmosphere of Emperor’s “In The Nightside Eclipse”. Tracks 'Ode To The Nightsky' and 'Among The Unseen Ones' probably have the most Dissection influence in its songwriting, with the main riff of 'Ode To The Nightsky' sounding a lot like the verse riff from 'Where Dead Angels Lie' and the final twin guitar melody at the end of 'Among The Unseen Ones' that reminds a lot of the intro from “The Somberlain”. The tracks that probably got me hooked the most were the sixth track 'The Owl', with an interlude of an epic keyboard choir with marching drums which set up the final half of the song, and the final track 'Holocaust Of The Angels', which is an instrumental 3-minute outro that serves as an epic conclusion to this album. I believe that I’ve already made myself clear that the album cover by Necrolord was one highlight of this album, but along with that would have to be the magic and nostalgic feeling expressed in the band’s songwriting, and the sound production that sounds pretty grandiose.

There isn’t much more to add to this album other than the fact that it’s excellent and very nostalgic. It’s a real comeback to the first time hearing Emperor’s “In The Nightside Eclipse”, plus Dissection’s “The Somberlain” and “Storm Of The Light’s Bane”, which was obviously the reason why I love this album in the first place. Sure, it may seem a bit off-putting for some people that I Am The Night incorporate styles from both bands in their music rather than crafting their own sound, but even if they did make their own style, I wonder if anyone would really have liked it, especially with that album cover that would most definitely make anyone expect to hear another Dissection or Emperor with high demand. The album is certainly not an eye candy, it is definitely a callback to the golden days of black metal that will summon anyone who wishes to hear such “angelic” music and relieve the past.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10