THE MIST FROM THE MOUNTAINS is a Finnish black metal band who formed just a couple years ago in 2020.  "Monumental - The Temple Of Twilight" is their debut album. The band's sound could be described as melodic but it is also speed focused at times.  They have a sort of epic/folk feel that is peppered throughout the songs, such as the beginning of "Empyrean Fields," and parts of "Thus Spake The Tongueless Serpent."  I think the band's sound could be further enriched by expanding upon these elements but what is here is integrated well, for the most part.   The vocals are what one would expect from the genre; they are serviceable but hardly mind blowing.  There are some clean vocals throughout the album and I found them to be much weaker than the blackened shrieks.

The aforementioned "Empyrean Fields," begins with clean tones that builds the song up.  At this point I want to point out that during the clean sections, the bass pops well but during the more distorted and chaotic sections, it doesn't shine through as well. The riffs that break the song up after the build up around the 2:43 mark are much more interesting than what came before it.  A solid opener but definitely not the best song on the album. The next track is "A Paean To Fire," and it gives you exactly what you could want with this style but the only really interesting part is the mid section, with its focus on melody and clean keys.  At this point, the album finds a groove but never really leaves it:  the beginning and ends of the songs are black metal focused while the middle portions are left to add in melodic/ambient/clean elements.  That is fine, but as a I said earlier, they need to be further expanded throughout the songs as it would be things less predictable.

"Thus Spake the Tongueless Serpent," is my favorite song on the album because I feel it best balances the bands light and dark elements—this song could definitely be used a blueprint for how to approach their second album.  I love the mid section, using clean guitar to create an effective atmosphere that plays off the clean vocals and catchy keys. "With the Sun and the Skies and Birds Above," is another track that showcases what the band can really do. The first half of the song is pretty standard fare but the last four minutes are where it really strikes.  The instruments are all in tune with each other and blended into the soundscape to the point where it sounds somewhat post to me, what with the way the music is grossly encompassing.

The album stumbles on "Master Of Wilderness," that is full of energy but burns through quickly, never really grabbing my attention along the way.  Sure, it is heavy, fast, and chocked full black metal goodness but it seems just too by the numbers. The final track, "After God," is better but still doesn't reach the heights of "With The Sun.." or "Thus Spake..." and it also feels about a minute too long.  Still, it is enjoyable enough but I enjoyed the quieter parts to the distorted ones and the way it keeps switching between the two styles is a roller coaster, something that distracts from the overall feel of the song.

All in all,  THE MIST FROM THE MOUNTAINS' "Monumental : The Temple Of Twilight," is a solid debut album that didn't  blow me away but I enjoyed the time I spent with it for reviewing purposes but there were not many moments that made me want to go back and listen again later.  Their potential is clear though and I look forward to see how they grow for their next release.