The works of J.R.R. Tolkien have been an inspiration for many metal bands over the decades, with some even using it as their entire focus for both lyrics and imagery. US black metal band One of Nine emerged as another great example of how to bring Tolkien’s work over to the icier and aggressive styles of black metal with their 2023 debut Eternal Sorcery. While that effort had elements of melodic and symphonic black metal, it focused just as much on the intensity of the guitar work. Two years later the band has returned with Dawn of the Iron Shadow, leaning even further into its inspiration with some beautiful artwork from Tolkien adjacent illustrator Ted Nasmith and a symphonic forward sound. It’s a very familiar sounding album for those who have spent time with other medieval/fantasy themed black metal or even One of Nine’s past releases, but the writing remains top notch.
The symphonic elements were present on Eternal Sorcery, but it feels like they’ve been brought further into the spotlight on Dawn of the Iron Shadow with the addition of a dedicated keyboard player as opposed to various effects. “Age of Chains” gives a great early example of this, as the song hits some high peaks early on with booming drums and eerie guitar melodies that feel like the clouds hovering over a tall mountain. It’s a powerful sound that balances the barbed wire of traditional black metal and the soaring qualities of the symphonic and atmospheric varieties of the genre. As you get further in the song offers plenty of twists and turns with different rhythms and keyboard/guitar melodies that give a more medieval sounding atmosphere, sounding like a cross between Summoning and modern acts like Obsequaie. You’ll hear a lot of the Summoning influence on other tracks like “Dreadful Leap”, as One of Nine takes a similar approach to its war march type of cadences that are used in between the blast beats, but early Dimmu Borgir and Vinterland’s lone album also came to mind while listening to Dawn of the Iron Shadow. It’s a very familiar sound, but there’s no denying how well it is done here and there are quite a few moments that are truly stunning in just how powerful and memorable they are. “Of Desperate Power” is a personal favorite of mine, as it spends a good amount of its run time reaching peak after peak with pummeling instrumentation but winds down to a haunting acoustic guitar piece that sticks with you over repeat listens. The only other issue I have is the way the songs all seem to wind down in the same way, as it does make some of the material sound just a bit too similar over repeat listens.
One of Nine has chosen to keep their identities secret, so you won’t get much about who’s behind the vocals other than the alias Fellrider of Northern Unlight. But whoever it may be, the performance is consistent with what you’d expect from US black metal meaning that there are plenty of higher pitched screams that tower above the dense instrumentation. What drew me into Dawn of the Iron Shadow is how jagged the voices are, as each word seems to come through with quite a bit of force like the fiercest Tolkien creations. There are some familiar names contributing as guests, as Hulder appears on “Dreadful Leap” and delivers some ethereal singing while M. from Lamp of Murmuur appears on “Behold the Shadow of My Thoughts”. Given M’s pitch, the differences to his guest spot are a bit more subtle, but they do inject some variations to the performance that stand out more as you dive further into the music.
Where Eternal Sorcery emphasized the guitar work and leaned into traditional/melodic black metal with some hints of symphonic elements, Dawn of the Iron Shadow brings in keyboards to move things over to that side of the spectrum. It’s a much more bombastic sound that reaches some incredible peaks, and while the songs do fall into some patterns by the end the atmosphere and soaring melodies have kept me returning. Fans of Summoning or everything Tolkien are likely to get even more mileage out of this one, and it’ll be interesting to hear what type of transformation they have in store for listeners next. Dawn of the Iron Shadow is available from Profound Lore Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg