Review by Vladimir on April 3, 2024.

Diving deep down the valley where the wicked black raven stands vigil at the inverted cross at the gateway to hell, I will be looking at the Swedish blackened/death metal band Korp with their new independent EP Pyres Of A Dying Sun, officially released on March 29th, 2024.

Starting things off with the opening track 'A Crimson Sleep', it begins with a very quiet and calming lullaby music box intro, but a few seconds later it quickly kicking in with a merciless blackened death metal attack that instantly jumpscares you really good, letting you know that you didn’t come here to fall asleep but to watch the raven feast with blood and flesh upon the inverted cross. From then on, you are ready to embark on this melodic and headbanging journey full of misanthropy, darkness and aggression in a very Swedish blackened death metal fashion. The music is a hybrid form of both black and death metal with sections that often bounce back and forth in style, but keeping the progression constantly flowing while maintaining its musical aggression.

The songwriting is very standard and straightforward with such simplicity, but still contains plenty of solid progression in every song. At times I felt like this was heavily influenced by the likes of Swedish melodic death metal bands such as At The Gates and 90’s In Flames, mixed in with some slightly more black metal elements, with a couple of breakdowns thrown in to make things more interesting. Overall, everything on this EP sounds pretty good, but still, I felt like there were times when it’s a bit lacking in its nature. There is definitely a lot of riff work and melodies that make the band sound richer, but there is nothing really too interesting on this EP in particular that stands out and forms a strong musical bond with the listener, except maybe for the final track 'Cauldron Of Fire' that was bit more fleshed out than the previous three. Personally, it’s all solid work from start to finish, although still a bit thin in its execution, but that all depends on what your personal preferences may be and what you are looking for in a song. Production-wise, the EP has a very heavy modern sound, maybe a bit too much for my taste, but overall, not bad by any means.

Although I was not as impressed as I was hoping to be, the entire Pyres of A Dying Sun EP is still pretty decent and worth a go. Despite its slightly lackluster nature, it’s undeniable that Korp put a lot of effort and enthusiasm to make it all work out pretty well in the end, but I am personally hoping to get something much more interesting in the future from this band. If you are not really picky and constantly looking for something to enjoy, even for a brief moment, you should give this one a go.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10