STORMKEEP is a Black Metal band hailing from Denver, Colorado.  Formed just back in 2017, the band are now releasing their debut EP, "Galdrum," via Van Records.  Featuring members of other established acts like WAYFARER and BLOOD INCANTATION, STORMKEEP is a project intended to glorify the heady days of second wave Black Metal.

"Glass Caverns of Dragon Kings" launches the album.  Composed of standard fare such as spiraling melodies, the potential monotony is broken after the four-minute mark. Employing a compelling acoustic interlude, the band channel their inner ULVER before setting up an absorbing climax via double bass and stabbing, jagged arpeggios. A great point of reference here would be DISSECTION in the way the primacy of the melody takes hold.  Do not be mistaken in thinking this is chocked full of pretty fluff, though.  No, the intensity is not sacrificed at all.  The production allows for successful layering of multiple guitar parts and the role of dynamics in the music is certainly emphasized.  There is a constant theme of building as parts are layered over each other to form a monolithic sound of ageless granite.

The second track, "Lightning Frost," begins with the sound of a threatening storm moving in.  The indelible European influence offers a central point of focusing for the musicians.  The stout use of keyboards reinforces that symphonic strain which is key to STORMKEEP's sound.

Ultimately, while listening to "Galdrum," it becomes clear that this project is a labor of love.  One could think of the EP as actually ending with the third track, the ten-minute, forty-eight second epic track, but the fourth track is what really concludes things.  Unfortunately, "Lost in Mystic Woods and Cursed Hollows" is little more than a near five-minute romp through atmospheric, soundtrack-like effects.  I could not help but get the feeling like I'd just finished watching Conan the Barbarian or Excalibur, the influence of those broad sweeping soundtracks of the 1980s is readily apparent.  While it may fit thematically, it is a long moment for such atmospherics and really stands resolutely as a block for the momentum that was established with the prior three tracks.  The four members have a direct tie to proliferating that oft-derided melodic Black Metal formula that was made successful by myriad bands in the mid to late 1990s.  As such, though, STORMKEEP exists in a category that many may find limiting.  I suspect, though, that is not the case with these devotees.