Review by Fernando on August 26, 2024.

Back in 2021, Nocturnal Wanderer spawned from the darkness with a short but sweet album that perfectly blended raw black metal with classic metal melodicism akin to Hellenic black metal, and three years later, the project has awoken with an even more substantial record that doubles down on all the best qualities of the debut, while also injecting some punk bravado into the mix.

The album opens in a triumphant and forlorn fashion, where Nocturnal Wanderer display all their strengths. However, the first thing anyone familiar with this project will notice is the uptick in production quality. I’ve railed against how the late 2010s and early 2020s had this glut of raw black metal bands that overplayed the “rawness” with production that was at best sloppy and at worst inexistent, and while Nocturnal Wanderer’s debut also had a production that could feel like a hurdle, they have certainly course corrected for the sophomore. The Evernight perfectly finds that sweet spot between where the sound quality is raw and gritty, but clear enough where the riffs, melodies, and especially the bass really pop to the benefit of the music.

Furthermore, the songwriting has also seen substantial improvements, the compositions are much richer and dynamic, and there’s a greater sense of structure and melody that was present in the debut, but it’s much more developed here. The first four songs, aka side A, is the project in top form, from punk-infused riffage to more melodic sombreness. However, it is on side B, or the last 5 songs where the album truly soars. The momentum of the first half is kept and maintained, but the variety is doubled down, and where the project really hones into the classicism of metal in a way that’s become less and less frequent in black metal. The mixture of old-school metal melodicism, punk attitude, and the overall gothic atmospheres of a dark forest at night synthesizes into a well-rounded album that has a real sense of identity and consistency but with enough variety and unique left turns to keep you engaged.

The last thing I want to highlight is the final songs, the first being a cover of The Damned’s classic song 'Wait For The Blackout', which is an interesting choice of song to cover in black metal but it also makes sense. The entire record mixes old-school metal and black metal with punk, so a cover by a perennial punk band who were also significant for goth rock is both appropriate and the overall performance is consistent with the rest of the album, even if the more catchy melodies and clean singing might stand out. And then the album closes exactly like the previous record did with an instrumental piece, but this one, titled ‘Dismaylight’ is a pure dark ambient track composed of a solitary synth and the sounds of crickets, to perfectly encapsulate the album as a whole, forlorn darkness while marveling at the majesty and beauty of the night.

Overall, this is another excellent record by Nocturnal Wanderer, and I hope this project sticks around the long term because it's clear that the three-year gap was very well spent in fleshing out such a good record. While it may not be the most original project in the world, this is still a masterful display of black metal with all its best qualities.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10