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ZORNHEYM
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Zornheym jumps to the forefront with a truly hot symphonic metal release, ‘Where Hatred Dwells and Darkness Reigns’! The group is full of experienced musicians from established acts like Dark Funeral, Devian, Diabolical, and even Facebreaker. Zornheym is Bendler on Vocals, Zorn and Scucca on Guitars, with Angst on Drums. They have a bassist, too, but is apparently not known at the time of writing. Let’s jump into this blend of dark melodies, crushing riffs, and poetic storytelling…

‘The Opposed’ eerily settles you into a false sense of comfort before the brash guitars bring about a forceful melody, accompanied by cursed growling vocals! An excellent entrance into this album with a fantastic transition to moodier/marching tones with the filler track #2. ‘A Silent God’ blasts us back into a very well made speedy tune with all the edginess one could want!

Now we get into the only portion of the album I’m not sure how I feel about. What is up with all the prelude or opening tracks that lead into other tracks? Tracks 2,4, and 6 are all around a minute long and are just moody transitions into other tracks. And they even named them all… that seems a bit odd to me. Like, we already only have 9 tracks total, so you can kind of remove 3 prelude tracks, and that leaves us with 6 songs. No wonder this album feels a bit on the short side... /rant over!

Song 5, ‘Trifecta of Horrors’, is a serious contender for best track on this release! Nearly every moment of the song is precise and of brilliant quality, with a lovely build to a clean vocals chorus. Surprise! After the last filler track (thankfully) we’re blistered into ‘Whom the Night Brings’, which is a fantastic track, really. Crushing guitars and epic keyboard transitions into some of the heavier parts. Love the guitar solos, as well!

The final two tracks being ‘Decessit Vita Patris’ and ‘Hestia’ is almost sad because the end of this release is looming, cutting its own momentum short a bit. Like “It was just getting good!” Anyway, ‘Decessit Vita Patris’ isn’t a bad track by any means, but it comes up a bit short in comparison to its own surrounding songs, pushing a moodier overtone as a gateway between two better songs, rather than forging its own identity. ‘Hestia’ is the true killer track of this release. It’s brutal, punches you in the teeth and leaves you wanting more. It has a growling chorus, amazing build and then settles you down for a moment towards the end with some ambient chanting and then fades. I loved this one!

“Leaving you wanting more”, which is likely the overall feeling of this entire album. I want more! Which is both good and bad; on one hand, I can’t wait for the next release but, on the other, I’m not convinced the 5 or 6 great songs available on this release are really going to hold weight down the road.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Non Serviam Records
Album
WHERE HATRED DWELLS AND DARKNESS REIGNS
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Review by Joshua Jaeger
RUNNING TIME:
38:01
RELEASE DATE:
15th Sept 2017
TRACK LISTING
1) The Opposed
2) Subjugation of the Cellist
3) A Silent God
4) Prologue to a Hypnosis
5) Trifecta of Horrors
6) And the Darkness Came Swiftly
7) Whom the Night Brings
8) Decessit Vita Patris
9) Hestia
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Sweden
"“Leaving you wanting more”...is likely the overall feeling of this entire album."
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