Rating: 7.4/10
Release: 2 February 2024
Label: Independent

Wandering Oak’s new album is a short but serviceable journey through ambient soundscapes, rumbling bottom-heavy riffing underlined with meaty growls, and soaring, dark and epic symphonies. It never reaches that almost ethereal highs of the black metal landscapes, neither does it reach the powerful chugging riffs of extreme metal, and the epic sounds never reaches that Bathory or Ereb Altor sound but it does come close sometimes.

The album treads a comfortable middle ground between the niches other bands specialize in within the different areas of Folk Metal. It is this middle ground which makes the release so comfortable, despite there only being only four tracks on offer. It is the quintessential jack of all trades scenario, but the mastery comes in the vocals. There is truly a talent here for making the vocals dark yet resonant, gutteral, or any other style needed. It is the delivery that elevates this album beyond being merely an average listen.

Tracklist

1. To Lir They Fell 11:13
2. A Florid Grain 5:53
3. Resilience 6:18
4. Vespertine 8:08
5. Snowbound 13:47