White Rune-Dawn of the White Rune

Indeed consolidating WHITE RUNE's considerable strengths, the band's aptly titled debut album bursts forth with an effervescence that's undeniable - and undeniably unique, within the wider sphere of Finnish black metal. With vampiric organ to the fore but thankfully eluding the mawkish excess of "vampiric black metal," WHITE RUNE proceed to wind and wend through an ever-surging storm of mysticism and malevolence. Their violence is real and the passion palpable, but there's a deft touch to their dynamics here; nightsky splendor and astral awe are always present, no matter the tempo, and actual lead guitar plays an equally central role in conveying the emotions coursing through Dawn of the White Rune. And while comparisons to contemporaneous countrymen Faustian Pact, Vargrav, and Mooncitadel are certainly valid, more accurately could WHITE RUNE here harken back to the late '90s works of Darkwoods My Betrothed, Thyrane, Alghazanth, Trollheims Grott, and even ...And Oceans, thereby bringing the lineage full circle like the Ouroboros itself.