Artist: Thäurnox
Country: Puerto Rico
Label: The Black Candles
Formats: Digital Demo
Year: 2025
Although Puerto Rico isn’t the first country you think of when you’re talking about Black Metal, there’s quite a few interesting acts to discover. One of the latest additions is Thäurnox, a one-man act that more or less operates in the melodic/atmospheric realms of Black Metal. ‘In Shadownight’ is its first feat and offers two tracks with a total playing time of just under fifteen minutes.
Honestly, I am not much of a fan of Atmospheric Black Metal, as I usually find it a little too safe and it tends to lack suspension. While Thäurnox isn’t an exception in its entirety, it definitely has more to offer than your average Atmospheric Black Metal. There’s lots of dreamy riffs, tranquil strumming and tremolo melodies to satisfy those who never seem get enough of that, but compared to what is usually the case within the framework of this subgenre, the overall production of ‘In Shadownight’ is much rawer and even slightly gritty around the edges. The keyboards in the background give the music a slight hint of Dungeon Synth as well, but it is mainly the guitars that take centre stage and sometimes almost drag the music into Post-Black Metal territories. That is, purely based on the cover art, not something that was to be expected. But that also sums up what Thäurnox is about on this first offering, a bit of everything but at the same time it is neither fish nor fowl.
Definitely not a bad first attempt, but for now Thäurnox is not yet able to fully convince or captivate. ‘In Shadownight’ feels like Mørdkryyn, the fella behind the band, either needs to make choices or find a way to make all these loose ends feel more coherent. Again, not all that bad, but it is clear there is still some work to be done here.
