Heretoir - Wastelands (2023)

It has been a while since we had new music from Germany’s Heretoir and their dreamy post-Black Metal music, since 2017 to be exact. With the EP “Wastelands” the band unleashes three new songs and three live recordings, creating a solid mix of anticipation and insight into the band’s intense live performances. If you are a fan of the genre, or outfits like (older) Lantlos, Ghost Bath, and Alcest to some degree, you should not miss out on this excellent band and this solid release.

Opening with the expansive “Anima”, perfectly layering mellow vocal arrangements and the band’s signature guitars. We particularly enjoy the tempo changes and overall atmospheric brilliance of the song, creating a very engaging and yet dynamic soundscape. Our favorite track in this EP has to be “At Dusk” and its dreamy vocals overlaid over atmospheric arrangements, certainly having a very Alcest-ish vibe to it from their “Shelter” days.

The last new song, which also carries the EP’s title, is a slow burning piece that nicely progresses into crushing distorted guitars paired with solemn clean vocal arrangements that suddenly sour and turn into harsh screams. This track is quite bleach and we love how it progresses and it just keeps getting better as it comes to a close. For the live songs, of course the band would have the brilliant “Golden Dust”, alongside “Exhale” and “The White”, all very well executed and true to their studio versions.

Overall, “Wastelands” is a great teaser for what is to come from the band in the future. We are quite psyched the way the three new songs sound and the direction the band is taking. For those that haven’t seen the band live, the last three songs give you a nice showcase of their live skills, and will certainly want to make you catch them next time they are close to you. For an EP, this release has great replay value as we found ourselves listening to it more than a dozen times already.

Label: AOP Records

Release: May 19th, 2023

Genre: Post-Black Metal

Country: Germany