adg211288 The US one man black metal act Panopticon is fast becoming one of my favourites in the genre. Presenting the unusual take of combing atmospheric black metal with bluegrass, the music crafted by mastermind Austin Lunn is unlike anything else I've heard from the black metal genre so far. Mostly this applies to the earlier album Kentucky (2012) though. On Autumn Eternal (2015) Lunn has stripped back his folk and bluegrass influences and made an atmospheric/post black metal album that in different respects puts it on the same page as acts like the UK's Fen and Winterfylleth. While not as interesting in terms of being different like Kentucky and not as diverse in influences as previous album Roads to the North (2014), I find it inarguable that it's a good thing that Panopticon can present different takes on the same genre with each release and do them convincingly.

The most folk you'll hear on Autumn Eternal is the opener Tamarack's Gold Returns, which is an entirely folk based instrumental piece. A little more traditional folk here to my ears rather than actual bluegrass (not that as someone who primarily listens to metal I claim to be an expert on such things) but it's nice and more substantial than the usual folk based introduction you may find on a metal album, many of which are actually pretty throwaway due to being so just damn short. The tone obviously changes when Lunn gets his metal on for Into the North Woods, which sets the pace and tone for the rest of the album to follow, post rock influenced black metal, with a notable nature theme. It's fairly as you may expect it all to sound, with both harsh black metal sections and softer atmospheric sections complementing each other, though some of the growls are deeper than the usual black metal standard, giving the album some more death metal like undertones. Some tracks such as Pale Ghosts and A Superior Lament also feature clean singing.

Though not as original sounding as Kentucky, it's obvious that Autumn Eternal is another well written Panopticon release. Lunn makes use of longish track lengths effectively to adsorb his listener without any of his ideas outstaying their welcome. I think it would have been nice to hear a bit more folk creeping in, but Autumn Eternal is clearly an album with a purpose, one that Lunn set out for and achieved. The end result is, I think, right up there with the best work in the post-black metal field.

I've heard three Panopticon albums including Autumn Eternal so far and every time have been impressed. There is a level of unpredictability about Austin Lunn's music that is going to make it really interesting to hear what he does with the project next and I'm definitely excited for whatever he decides.