New Black Metal band HERALDIC BLAZE have released their first album, a Demon titled “Blazoned Heraldry.” Unfortunately, I was able to find their band members due to a brief entry on The Metal Archives, but very little else. The album has six songs, and “Torchbearers of Our Time” is the first cut. Out of the gate is that cloudy and overly treble production value, and although there are other elements in their sound besides just guitar, much of the song has an amateur quality to it.

“The Accolade of Truth” has a similar sound, though just a bit faster. The flute notes are interesting, but pitchy at times. Bass guitar notes thump away, sandwiched between intense vocal screams. “Far Shooting Apollo” also has a similar sound, although the amateur qualities are beginning to fade away in favor of a more straightforward Black Metal sound. It toggles between rage and anger, and a deep, tortured depression. “A Sovereign Spire” presents a little variation in their sound, and I like the differences. Most of them come out of the main riff, which borders on, dare I say it, 80’s music at times.

“The Knight’s Folly” is a short, two-minutes of clean, acoustic guitars, along with some background elements that take the listener into their medieval world, surrounded by heroes, villains, and war. Closing the album is “Scourge of the Sycophant.” The sound here is hasty and moves fast over scenes of grey and back that color the air. I must admit, the album got better as it moved along, but is still sounds fairly bland when compared to other Black Metal albums out there, and really did not stand out much from peers.