With The End In Mind - Tides of Fire (2020)

Delivering a very rich and emotional 48 minutes of soul crushing Post-Black Metal with a Cascadian vibe, today we have With The End In Mind and their sophomore release “Tides of Fire”. Perfectly contrasting fragility with crushing aggression, this release unleashes three masterful tracks that weave together tons of influences while creating a very powerful and complex sound. If you are a fan of bands like Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room and Vanum, this release will blow you away.

The release leads with the dreamy opening of “Set the Cavernous Soul Alight”, which slowly turns into a very chaotic and savage onslaught of harsh screams, blistering drumming and a very firm and crushing pace. We particularly love how the band weaves pockets of intense brutality into mellow and lush soundscapes that are both hypnotic and eerie. Just as this track slowly built up, the ending soothes the listener with eerie clean vocals and a certain folky vibe.

Changing the pace of things and helping create a deeper ritualistic vibe, the interlude “My the Name of Truth be Fire”. Closing with the 22-minute behemoth “Return, Reclaiming”, this track features the ferocity of the newer wave of North American BM bands like Ash Borer and Vanum, mixed with the mysticism and hypnotic melodies of WITTR. However, With the End in Mind elevates their music further with perfectly balanced enchanting instrumental interludes and lush vocal arrangements.

As a whole, “Tides of Fire” delivers three brilliant tracks that showcase the bands musicianship and creativity by weaving tons of familiar influences into a cohesive and demoralizing sound. Regardless if you prefer brutality over melody, or the converse, this release has something for everybody as each of its sides is equally well crafted and perfectly combined.

Label: Avantgarde Music

Release: June 20th, 2020

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal / Post-Black Metal

Country: USA