Artist: Hail Conjurer
Country: Finland
Label: Bestial Burst / Crypt Of The Wizard / Into Endless Chaos Records
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2026
This Finnish one-man band is certainly not one where you have to wait long for new material, yet Hail Conjurer has been slightly less productive in recent years than in the early stages of the band’s existence. But although the releases may not come along quite as frequently, the quality remains consistently high. Such is the case with this tenth full-length album, ‘Abyss & Ekstasis’, which was released last month via Bestial Burst, Crypt Of The Wizard and Into Endless Chaos Records, with the former handling the CD and the latter two joining forces for the vinyl release. As well as steady high quality, another key feature of Hail Conjurer’s work is that you’re never quite sure what Harri Kuokkanen will come up with next, yet in the end it’s always unmistakably recognisable as his own.
And that, too, applies perfectly here. Over the years, we have come to know Hail Conjurer as Harri’s outlet for dark creativity and unusual thoughts and visions. That’s a recipe for a kind of Black Metal that, more often than not, requires several listens to be fully appreciated. In that respect, ‘Abyss & Ekstasis’ is actually surprisingly organic and easy on the ear. By Hail Conjurer’s standards, that is; for run-of-the-mill Black Metal, you’re still better off turning to Nuclear Blast or Season Of Mist, but there’s no denying that this tenth album tells a much more natural story, one that doesn’t always require the senses to be put on high alert.
On previous releases, there was plenty of experimentation with electronica and other genres such as Doom Metal or even Power Electronics. Perhaps this is not so surprising, given that Harri is also active in a handful of other bands where he gains experience and, whether consciously or not, brings this back to his other bands and projects. Harri’s musical CV features names such as Regere Sinister, Ride For Revenge, Hooded Menace and Horse Lattitudes – not the least of them… However, that urge to experiment is clearly less pronounced here. The album does begin and end with a bit of electro, but the music in between is, for the most part, fairly (un)orthodox black metal. Orthodox in the sense that it is ‘just’ Black Metal, but knowing Harri, it’s obviously not Watain-style Black Metal. The occasionally slow passages, moody keyboards and his thunderous vocals create a soundscape that, as far as I’m concerned, is best described as a hybrid between Ofermod and Skepticism. The former is self-explanatory, particularly given the somewhat unconventional riffs and roaring vocals; I can clearly hear Skepticism in the depth (and at times the slowness) of the compositions, in which the keyboards play a leading role. The result is dark and melancholic, offering the listener yet another new listening experience. Hail Conjurer is and remains a sort of shape-shifting entity that will always live up to its name.
