Artist: Mesnada
Country: Spain
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital EP
Year: 2026
Admittedly, I had missed Mesnada’s untitled debut demo that was released earlier this year, as well as the two short releases that were put out in 2025 under the name of Tuireann – it happen to the best of us. But, frankly, I am happy that this band, by a young Spanish musician, eventually landed on my radar. I am not aware of any of his other or previous musical experience, but ‘Forgotten Pathway Of Dark Ages’ comes across as a surprisingly mature piece of Raw Black Metal.
Well, mature… maybe that depends on how you look at it, as the 20+ minutes of this second offering certainly has a bit of that youthful freshness to it. But still, on a musical level this anonymous youngster definitely show he knows his stuff. As a whole ‘Forgotten Pathway Of Dark Ages’ takes you right back to the kind of Black Metal that was more or less popular around the turn of the millennium, especially in the Spanish and French scenes. The raw production is not merely a mandatory part of the music, it channels a powerful energy that takes you right back to the best works of Moonblood and Nazgul, one of Spain’s most iconic Black Metal bands from that time.
The kind of one-dimensional sonic soundscape adds so much to the hypnotic strength of the riffs and repetitive drums. Add to that a very solid vocal performance and there you have it: authenticity. This is genuinely a piece of Black Metal that I would have had no trouble believing was already twenty-five years old. Not only does it make for a thoroughly interesting listen and a pleasant introduction to a new, talented Black Metal band, it is also yet further proof that the torch of the Black Metal genre has been successfully passed on to new generations.
Spain may not have a particularly large metal scene, but it remains a country with an intriguing metal tradition. If you dig deep enough, the country has more than a handful of excellent bands to offer. Mesnada is undoubtedly one of them, and I certainly won’t be losing sight of it.
