Hail Spirit Noir - Fossil Gardens (2024)

Masters of Progressive/Avant-garde Black Metal weirdness Hail Spirit Noir are back with one of the most unique and engaging releases of 2024. With “Fossil Gardens”, the band further expands their sound into weirder territories with seven tracks and nearly 44 minutes of pure madness. With some familiar elements from outfits like Arcturus and more modern Dødheimsgard, this Greek outfit has managed to carve a totally unique style to themselves and continue to push the boundaries of Metal music.

Opening with the trippy “Starfront Promenade”, the vibe is instantly set to weird, but highly melodic and always unexpected. Clean vocalist, Dimitris Dimitrakopoulos, provides a very interesting counterpart to the harsh vocal and the wide palette of sounds this band unleashes. Things gradually get weird, with the Psychedelically magical “The Temple of Curved Space” and its superb melodic catchiness.

Showing the darker and heavier side of things, “Curse you, Entropia” and “The Blue Dot” keep that whole melancholic vibe going, as they are filled with crafty drum patterns and a hearty dose of heaviness. With a very cinematic opening, “The Road to Awe” is our favorite track as it slowly builds up with some brilliant Borknagar-esque onslaughts paired with excellent guitar leads. This is nicely followed up by the atmospheric weirdness of “Ludwig in Orbit”.

Closing with the futuristic madness of “Fossil Gardens”, we are instantly trying to play this all over again and further discover some more layered details hidden within each track. Hail Spirit Noir continues to improve on an already super cool sound by adding more weirdness and technical proficiency to their unique style. If you are looking for weird and different, but still need some heaviness in your life, this is a very unique release to try.

Label: Agonia Records

Release: June 28th, 2024

Genre: Progressive/Psychedelic/Avant-garde Black Metal

Country: Greece