Review: “The Void And The Vengeance” by Thy Kingdom Will Burn

”We can’t be more proud of what we have made, this is the culmination point of our career so far! Our aim is to make powerful, atmospheric and melancholic music, that isn’t bound to any specific style or genre. One can find traces of Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Punk or even Folk Metal in our music” ~ Thy Kingdom Will Burn

Founded in 2016 by vocalist and guitarist Sami Kujala, Thy Kingdom Shall Burn dropped a pair of EPs in the five years before their debut self titled album rose from the black depths and now less than 12 months later they return with a sophomore one. Engineered, mixed and mastered by Juho Räihä at SoundSpiral Audio (Swallow The Sun, Before The Dawn, Wolfheart), it is their first with new guitarist Esa Virén, formerly of To/Die/For and sees them follow in the footsteps of bands like Kaamos Warriors in no longer referring to themselves as a Melodic Death Metal act…

…Instead Thy Kingdom Shall Burn defy genre boundaries and create without fear of reprisal taking influence from the wider spectrum of the Metal World and call themselves a Dark Metal act. In truth while those Melodic Death Metal roots can not be denied, it is clear that they have in many respects outgrown the genre they previously called their own. The pendulum now swings free in both directions as they embrace the power of both aggression and melody in traditional melancholic fashion upon this powerful burnt offering. However diversity can be a double edged sword, take it too far and it can leave something that tries to please everyone and ends up pleasing no-one by feeling watered down and without substance. Fortunately Thy Kingdom Shall Burn have unlocked the secrets of how to create powerful, atmospheric and melancholic music steeped in Finnish traditions and manage it knit together the elements that comprise these songs with a powerful rhythmic backbone from bassist Janne Ruuskanen and drummer Lauri Virén and as an album it is one that grows on you with multiple listens. At first it is the cuts like “Nothing Remains” which benefits from “The End Of Heartache” era Killswitch Engage style riffs with extra drive and energy or “Disbelief” which has a classic catchy hook with vibrant leads and big sing-a-long chorus that grab the attention. Later on it is ones like “Fortress Of Solitude“, permeated by bursts of blast beats from Virén or the staccato riffs breaks of “Serpents” that win the day, the former of those also benefitting from a guest appearance from accordion player Netta Skog which adds a wonderful stand out moment. There is however some fat that could be trimmed with cuts like “Veil Of Wicked Sky” perhaps a verse and chorus over long while elsewhere there are points where it feels like there is a single guitarist with the absence of any leads. There is a lot to appreciate here as the band embrace that cold and poignant northern light, the only question is whether some fans will give some of the more slow burning moments the time they need [7/10]

Track Listing

1. Between Two Worlds
2. Disbelief
3. Veil Of Wicked Sky
4. Fortress Of Solitude (ft. Netta Skog ex-Ensiferum)
5. Nothing Remains
6. Barren Land
7. Siren Of Doom
8. Serpents
9. Through The Broken Lens

“The Void And The Vengeance” by Thy Kingdom Will Burn is out 20th May via Scarlet Records