Formed all the way back in 1993 in Australia, Black Metal band ICHOR released a Demo in that year and then ducked into the underworld for the remaining 26 years. Rearing their heads in 2018 for their debut album titled "God of Thunder and War," the band now presents their latest release here titled "Black Raven," which contains five tracks. "Journey" leads off the album. It begins with a slow, cold pace and whispered vocals. It moves slowly, with dark leanings, but not necessarily the Black Metal sounds you might expect.

"Broken Land" is another lengthy song. Again, it takes a while to get going. The whispered vocals are beginning to become fairly annoying after a while, and I wonder where the album is headed. "Veles is Here" is over nine-minutes in length. But it's a full two minutes before the main sound is revealed. More whispered vocals carry the song forward, and I suppose the delivery here is no different than if they were vocals shrieks. The music underneath is dark and harrowing, but also trite and boring. "Fight, Blood, Fire, Hate" is progressively shorter, and maintains a higher level of audibility than many of the previous tracks. The hushed vocals continue throughout the song, which is very similar to many of the others. "Black Raven" closes the album. The slow grind grates on you after a few minutes, and is noteworthy...but otherwise, the song is not very memorable.

Dissonant and dark, the album leaves little room for hope or light of any kind. However, it is also quite boring and unilateral is its delivery of the tracks. This could be used as a soundtrack for summoning the dead, or a demon perhaps, but only if you have a lot of time on your hands. Otherwise, I recommend you stay away.