Luring – Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy (Shapeshifting Black Metal)
I don’t think I’ve been this proud of American black metal since, well, now I guess. Listen, though he had a few good tracks, I only owned a Leviathan shirt because the logo’s cool. We have cool logo here with Pennsylvania’s Luring, as well, but musically something much different. Something more profound, something more dense, something more true to its roots, without relying on spelling U as V. True to the meaning of black metal, not true to the stereotypes. Okay, to be fair, there are some stereotypes here, but you won’t notice them immediately, and to be further honest they pretty much dropped that shit by their last full-length from 2023, Triumphant Fall of the Malignant Christ. Now let’s delve into their latest, Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy.
I received several wolf-theme black metal promos in the past two months, but only this one felt true to its shape-shifting roots. And that’s a good way to explain Luring, they’re shapeshifters. Where at once you think you know what they’re doing, suddenly they transform the sound into something simultaneously archaic and elevated. Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy comes with a bitter, below-freezing frost, yet there’s a beating warmth within you rarely see. Touches of eeriness, primarily through a symbiotic keyboard approach, excellent stage-setting, and riff action that can command both supple passion and vicious cruelty, leads to an impressive final product. Right when you think it’s human, you realize too late it’s abandoned its humanity as Luring tears into you with both teeth and claw.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Luring – Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy
Iron Bonehead Productions
Cover Art: Bharata Danu
4.8 / 5
