Review by Raphaël on January 1, 2023.

Hailing from the deep Adirondack Wilderness in the state of New York, emerges one man, Jon Krieger, who goes by the name of Sgah’gahsowáh (try saying that three times really fast), the mastermind behind the one-man atmospheric black metal band Blackbraid. On his first album, Sgah’gahsowáh takes us on a journey through the beautiful and sometimes harsh nature of the Adirondack Mountains departing from the usual tropes of black metal, namely Satan, hell and devils etc., Jon is inspired by nature and native American mythology to create a beautiful and spiritual yet still brutal piece of art.

On my first listen, one of the first things I noticed was the production. I don’t know, I guess I was expecting something a bit rawer sounding, but after a few more listens, I was completely sold. The production is crystal clear, but retains a slight touch of rawness, akin to a cold mist enveloping you in the quiet autumn morning hours and chilling you to the bones. On a scale of Darkthrone to Abbath, 1 being Darkthrone and 10 Abbath, it would be at a seven or eight. Now, let’s get to the main body of my review, the music.

The main sound of this album is a super atmospheric, mostly fast-paced black metal but there are many extra little surprises sprinkled everywhere. From traditional native american flutes and percussions, to a slow and heavy, almost death/doom section. That’s a good segway to talk about the first song I want to highlight, which is the last and longest song of the album, 'Prying Open The Jaws Of Eternity'. The first five minutes are much much slower and heavier than the rest of the album. Sgah’gahsowáh uses deep death growls, which is a big contrast from his usual high-pitched black metal shrieks. This gives us a glimpse of the extraordinary musical talents and the range of Sgah’gahsowáh. After the five-minute mark, it goes into a more traditional black metal sounding territory which means, blast beats, tremolo picking and more black metal sounding vocals. In these five minutes, he alternates between fast and slow, making it a real dynamic song.
Now, let’s dive into my favorite song of the album, 'Sacandaga'. I see why this is one of the singles and the song he chose for the video. Not wasting any time, the song starts almost immediately as a full-on black metal rager, complete with fast, (but not crazy technical death metal fast) blast beats, atmospheric black metal riffs and a nice melody that flows intertwined with the general coldness feeling the rest of the instrumentation evokes. Towards the end, the melody gets an added bonus: some kind of traditional native american flute. This is the first time I heard this instrument in a metal song. Traditionally, folk and atmospheric black go hand in hand, but it’s usually Nordic/Scandinavian folk that is mixed in. So this adds a freshness that is more than welcome in the genre. Not too dissimilar to Panopticon, who blends Appalachian folk with atmospheric black. We now arrive at my first criticism (which is more of suggestion/wish): I would have loved it if he integrated even more traditional native American folk instruments in the mix. Apart from a short instrumental track, we only get folk instruments, in the form of some kind of tambourins, in one other song: 'Barefoot Ghost Dance On Bloodsoaked Soil'. This is another highlight of the album, featuring a great black metal melody and a masterful drum work that makes you head bang all throughout its run time of approximately six minutes. There are a lot of subtle touches sown all around the album: like on 'The River Of Time Flows Through Me' where it starts and ends with the soft sounds of a stream of water nearby.

To complete this wonderful piece of art, we have great lyrics delivered with powerful vocals. The high-pitched, raspy screams of Sgah’gahsowáh are always audible. Even when he goes into a lower register, you can always clearly hear the lyrics, like: “A blackened wolf spirit with feral eyes of fire Lurks silent in the dark, watching from the pines She calls to me from the depths of my own spirit A primal vision of a thousand fates entwined” sung with his powerful voice, that makes you feel even more deeply his connection with nature and his ancestors. When he screams lyrics like: “Golden sunsets whisper Pastel painted skies Fading lights embrace Hills of endless pine”, it truly feels like you’re on an autumn hike through the mountain forest, at dawn.

So, there is no other way to conclude than yes! Everything works wonderfully together: the music, the lyrics all tied together with his powerful voice. He screams with the fury, wisdom and force of his ancestors. They would be proud of his incredible achievements, namely, making indigenous people and culture seen in the metal community and even beyond. The only other complaint I have (which is not necessarily negative), is that the album is too short. I would’ve taken at least two other songs with other traditional Native American instruments. I definitely want more of this. Hopefully, he’ll inspire more and more indigenous people from many other origins to make metal! Diversity really makes metal more and more interesting and better each year.

Rating: 9 out of 10