voila_la_scorie When it comes to black metal, I find there's the type that makes me think, "Sweet! I can totally immerse myself in this," and then there's the type that makes me think, "A bit too much slicing on the ol' tympanic membrane. Ease up a bit on the over-driven lo-fi treble tone."

Wormwitch's second album, "Heaven That Dwells Within" is of the first type. Right from the bursting intro of the drums, the Celtic Frostian "ough!", and the wash of guitar distortion, the music is like a swiftly hurtling cozy blanket that whisks me away. The production is warm and comfortable, not squeaky clean or living room lo-fi. The drums blast away. The vocals do what black metal vocals do. The guitar sounds and the riffs sweep you away across the frosts and snows of... Vancouver? Alright. It's a bit unusual to hear black metal performed so well from a city that's known more for rust than frost. But Wormwitch sure have a handle on what they're doing.

In general, the album is a sweet listening experience, but there are enough moments that pop out that have me checking the track list and what song is playing at the moment. That folky bit in "Vernal Womb". The pause and sudden drop downs in "Two Wolves". The changing riffs of "Midnight Sun" and the acoustic and clean vocal intro to "Dancing in the Ashes". It doesn't take long to pick out what makes each song different from most of the others. That's a good point for me. I appreciate an album that sounds great from start to finish, but it's the little highlights here and there that make individual tracks memorable.

I'm a bit surprised to see "crust" mentioned in Wormwitch's description. I don't hear any on this album. But I like it enough that I am interested in hearing their first album. Black metal experts might have more critical words to say about this record but I think it's really a well-done piece of work that I'll come back to.

Nightfly Black metal is a genre I dip in and out of. I have my favourites like Watain, Immortal, Melechesh and Dissection to name a few but I’m far more likely to be listening to death or thrash when it comes to the more extreme side of things. Now and again though something comes along in the black metal field that really grabs my attention. One such album is Heaven That Dwells Within, the second full length release from Canadians Wormwitch.

I’d heard they were a mix of black metal and crust punk. I’ve only had a brief listen to their debut after hearing this but that certainly seems a fair description of Strike Mortal Soil as far as I can recall. Heaven That Dwells Within seems to have reduced the crust quota though that D beat synonymous with crust rears its head from time to time, this being more of a melodic black metal affair with touches of melodic death metal at times. As opener Disciple Of The Serpent Star kicks in Tribulation immediately comes to mind. As the album progresses it’s not a one off either as they share that bands ear for a catchy riff loaded with melancholia. DOTSS happens to be my favourite song on the album but there’s no shortage of other great moments with plenty of variation with drums shifting through blasts, double kicks, D-beats and more. Whilst the vocals are of a fairly standard black metal style they’re well done but the strength of this album lies in its musicality. There’s no shortage of hook laden riffs, tremolo picking, searing licks and melodic solos – something else that reminds me of Tribulation. There’s enough variation to keep things interesting throughout and Lord Of Chains throws in a dose of dissonance which I always like.

I really love this album, probably my most played new release of the last month or so. I can’t see that changing any time soon and this one will certainly make my end of year list, somewhere near the top I suspect. To add to the appeal it has a great cover - a section of the John William Waterhouse painting “The Lady Of Shalott” which looks even better on the vinyl version . If you’re a black metal fan you really need to check this band out if you haven’t already.