Year: 2021
Total Time: 45:23
Label: Napalm Records

THULCANDRA are a band from Germany formed back in 2003. They have released 4 full length albums, “A Dying Wish” being their latest and one EP in 2016. Their name, apart from being a DARKTHRONE reference, is coming from the 1938 sci-fi novel “Out Of The Silent Planet” by C.S. Lewis, in wich “Thulcandra” is the name of planet earth.

In their music the listener can find some high quality melodic black metal leading back to  DISSECTION but I’d say that their melodic approach, especially in their latest album, is inspired by a large variety of musical influences from the riffing of the early DARK TRANQUILITY to the single line guitar themes of PARADISE LOST and the DARKTHRONΕian tremolo picking black metal. Their guitarist and vocalist Stefan Kummerer is also a member of the tech-dethsters OBSCURA something that explains certain technical aspects in the album, which never get out of control and always serve the artistic intention well, without throwing it out of the wagon.

The album starts with a haunting acoustic guitar and before you know it all the blackness breaks loose. “Funeral Pyre” and “Scarred Grandeur” are the first two tracks that forge a solid headbanging mood before a beautiful classical guitar interlude takes its place as the third track leads us to some old school Gothenburg sounds with the song “In Vain”. And thus the story goes… Great highlights in the album for me for different reasons was the riffing pandemonium in “The Silvering Silver” and the the moody “Nocturnal Heresy” although every song is a very well crafted piece of art.

In its 10 songs and 45 minutes run time you have a constant dialogue between the aforementioned sub-genres with no surprises. THULCANDRA do what they do and they do it well. The songwriting is of the highest level and the album is very well balanced from start to finish with a great flow and interchanging elements that don’t let you get bored. Stylistically they propose nothing new, but that’s totally fine with me because what they do is an amalgam so very well crafted that brings to mind some of the greatest moments of extreme metal’s history of the 90s, so, if you dig that classic European sound, you will be very happy with “A Dying Wish”.

Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Yiannis Tziallas
Related Link: THULCANDRA – Official Page