Artist: Hingriden Fortress
Country: France
Label: Hérésie Nocturne
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2026
Hingriden Fortress is another endeavor by the remarkably prolific multi-instrumentalist Wandering Shade, whose work with several of his other projects has already been featured here, including Ërhatiüurä, Hiemal Atavism, Par-delà le Miroir, and Reich der Geister. Although he has a couple more projects and runs the Hérésie Nocturne label as wlel, there always seems a bit of room for one more project, and, surprisingly, it is actually all quite good. Hingriden Fortress is no exception to that rule.
To a trained ear, there are certainly clear differences to be identified between all these projects, yet there is also a common thread that ties everything together. Wandering Shade has a fairly recognisable guitar style and a tendency to create a melancholic atmosphere in all his work. Even the non-metal projects, which mainly operate in the realm of Dungeon Synth, bear his distinctive mark. This also applies to Hingriden Fortress, where that same melancholy and the noisy guitar work coalesce once again into an interesting overall sound.
Although I haven’t been able to conclusively determine the exact origin of the band’s name, it’s not hard to imagine that Hingriden Fortress has a medieval feel to it. This is reinforced by the Dungeon Synth elements interspersed throughout the music, as well as by the use of synths to enhance the atmosphere. However, this is actually Wandering Shade’s first project to have a fairly pronounced Heavy Metal character, at least in the use of the guitars. The riffs are distinctly Black Metal, but the melodies and song structures lean towards more traditional metal. More noticeable is a certain pagan undertone, which is reinforced by the medieval sounds, flute, strumming acoustic guitar, the atmospheric keyboard work and the occasional humming vocals. Taken together, this makes ‘A Long Journey To A New Dawn’ a fine addition to the ever-growing body of work by this young French musician.
