Review by Felix on February 7, 2026.

Imagine you have a massive weakness for Bathory, especially for “Blood Fire Death”. This does not need much fantasy, right? Furthermore, imagine that you can play guitars, bass, and drums (that’s more challenging) and, even better, you have the talent to write great black metal songs and the option to record and release them (this is too much for my imagination, but perhaps you manage this). So far, so exciting. But shit, this is exactly where the problem begins, because despite your skills, you just don’t do it. Instead, you create an album with a lot of useless pieces that kill the density, the power, and the intensity of the whole work. Welcome to “III”, the (surprise, surprise) third full-length album from Blackbraid, another one-man project from the US of A.

To start with, the most obvious positive facet of the album is that, beyond doubt that multi-instrumentalist Sgah’gahsowáh is able to write absolutely coherent, majestic masterpieces. 'The Dying Breath Of A Sacred Stag' marks the prime example. Okay, some of its parts sound more like Quorthon’s “A Fine Day To Die” than the original itself. But to be inspired by the best is no crime as long as the result is convincing. This is the case here. By the way, the song also comes along the gates of Blashyrkh, inter alia, due to its calm intro. But at the end of the day, to be influenced by Immortal means nothing else than to be influenced by Bathory. As you can see, everything stays in the family. Reassuring.

'God Of Black Blood' is another fine number. Not as dramatic as 'The Dying Breath…', but blessed with a profound heaviness and stoic yet impressive, almost hypnotizing guitar lines. In view of its nonstop mid-tempo and its desperate aura, it would be a nearly perfect soundtrack for a funeral procession, and indeed, there exists a certain connection to Marduk’s 'Funeral Dawn'. I wish I could write more about the great pieces of this album. Indeed, 'Tears Of The Dawn' leaves a pretty good impression. Moreover, 'And He Became The Burning Stars…' takes us on another pleasant and epic trip into Bathory’s (and Immortal’s) past. But one thing is of greater relevance.

“III” holds four instrumentals, each one more romantic, melodic, bloodless, and simply boring than the next. If the gentleman loves to play his guitar: fine. But do we need to be confronted with each and every exercise? Honestly, when I began to buy metal albums back in the early eighties, I was not looking for this kind of acoustic stuff. My intention has not changed since then, and when I invest my hard-earned money in a metal album, I want to get exactly this: metal. But this quartet of dreamy pieces, the intro and three interludes, dilutes the album significantly. It gives the entire full-length an overly clean character, but black metal was not invented to be the best washed boy in town. So tell us, Mister Sgah’gahsowáh, whom do you want to please with these powerless excursions?

So all in all, eleven of the 52 minutes of this album are for the bin, and that’s a lot. Aggravating the situation, the vapid Lord Belial cover is not yet included in this calculation. This leads me to the realization that “III” scores with five good or even fantastic tracks, but it suffers from a high number of unforced errors at the same time. If I were to be completely critical, I would say that the production is not balanced, but rather a little too smooth. Anyway, Blackbraid have the skills it needs to write big-sized, sun-darkening monuments that do not deny their roots. But the dude should also think about a more sustainable concept for his next full-length.

Rating: 6.9 out of 10

Review by Raphaël on October 24, 2025.

It's been three years since the world has been blessed by the creative genius of Jon S. Krieger aka Sgah'gahsowáh (a Mohawk name meaning "the witch hawk") and his project Blackbraid. Three years, three albums, that have propelled Jon to the top of the American and worldwide metal scene. I've been a massive day one fan and I'm so happy to see his well-deserved success. His third album is everything I wished his first and second album was. Blackbraid I was a nice introduction to his sonic world but was too short, Blackbraid II was much longer, perhaps a bit too long, and saw him experiment a bit with different styles, to varying degrees of success and now, I feel like he almost reached perfection with Blackbraid III. The fact that all this evolution happened in just three years is mind-blowing!

The album begins with a short instrumental, setting the mood with a soft acoustic guitar picking, over the sound of a fire, that ends with distortion kicking in leading to the next song. A fast blastbeat, a sadness filled riff, and his savage scream combine and send chills down my spine. The track follows a familiar structure, cleverly combining lyrics and music, to create a whole experience. While striking the toms rhythmically, he screams with passion: "The imminence of fate on the horizon, The drums of war on the wind". The track ends with a fast solo and a long, epic scream, summoning the eagles to rise and carry us to the silence of death.

"The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag" softly enters with a sad, acoustic guitar melody, that transforms with distortion and drums slowly kicking in, getting progressively faster and then, from the sacred forest of the ancestors, comes a powerful scream accompanied by a short tapping riff that cracks up the energy to 11. The song being kind of long, 7 min 45 sec, it is constructed in such a way that there are enough repetitions, making the melody get planted in your head and has a good meditative quality, it's surprisingly relaxing. It ends on a fade out, just as it began, with that sad melody on acoustic guitar. Speaking of sadness, I would say it is the main theme of this album, the melodies, the lyrics, it combines to leave us reflecting on our own mortality.

"The Earth is Weeping" is an interlude beginning with the simple sound of rain, gradually building up with a simple acoustic guitar picking and the magical sound of loons, (my absolute favourite bird chant). It instantly brings images of a tranquil lake in the twilight.

I think "God of Black Blood" might be my favorite song, although it can change depending on the day. Every song has its own life and mood, but the simple blackened, stomping rhythm, combined with his powerful voice always pumps me up! And in the middle of this brutality, the soft and soothing sound of a traditional flute appears, as if sent from the heavens to heal our hearts. But it only makes a quick appearance, and the cold brutality comes back. Towards the end, he drops an incredible shredding solo, just because he can!

To continue the structure of one song, one interlude, "Traversing the Forest of Eternal Dusk" is an interesting one. It opens with the sounds of crickets quickly joined by a beautiful acoustic guitar picking making you feel you are listening to it on a warm summer night and then, that mystical traditional flute enters and adds such beauty. After the flute, you hear that wailing electric guitar coming in, culminating in a fire solo.

"Tears of the Dawn" is a classic Blackbraid, long atmospheric black song with dynamic songwriting, that makes its 9 min and 18 sec passe in what feels like an instant. Again, interwoven music and lyrics in such a seamless way, as he screams the words: "Dolor, Sorrow, Contrition, Spurred by the wind" the melody, with a simple tremolo picking, pierces your soul with sadness. And towards the end, to add to the weight of sadness, everything slows down for an almost doom section, where he alternates low growls and piercing screams.

After a beautiful interlude of acoustic guitar over the sound of birds and a stream, what acts as the final song in the story of the protagonist death's, "And He Became the Burning Stars…" an almost 10 min epic, that feel pretty sad in the beginning, but evolves in an almost hopeful melody towards the end, always accompanied by lyrics that paints beautiful images: "Relinquish my bones to the silence of sorrows, Burning beneath celestial pine, A whisper of flesh in a womb of stars, My spirit unbound in the effulgence of the light of the moon". It shows that even in death, beauty can be found, it's the never-ending cycle, where death is forever intertwined with life.

Unfortunately for me, the album doesn't end there, a Lord Belial cover closes this incredible album, and I must say, it's the first and last criticism I have for this majestic piece of art so, all in all, a nearly perfect album! And again, the fact he reached near perfection with three albums, in three years, is a testament of the artist Jon is. Plus, the beautiful Adam Burke cover, with border art by Adrian Baxter makes for, hands down, the best album cover of the year! And with Neil Schneider handling the recording, mixing and mastering, everything sounds balanced, polished but organic.

Blackbraid's ascension to the top of the black and general metal scene is an inspiring sight, the resilience, after surviving some of the worst crimes humanity has committed, being still here, with a burning desire to live and I feel so lucky to be able to witness it. Speaking of crimes against humanity, I'll end with an obligatory Free Palestine and never lose hope!

Rating: 9.9 out of 10