JTN by Blood Howl is two tracks long and clocks in at nine minutes, but in that short amount of time, Blood Howl manages to cross the streams, taking a handful of genres and creating something quite special.

There are the obvious influences such as Black Metal and the likes, but the tracks on offer – Join the Night and Across the Bridge of Sighs – are so well crafted that they are going to move into your head as earworms, and live there rent free.

Even though the overall feel of JTN is one of the darkest night, there is an uplifting feeling that oozes out of the pours of each track that is almost dreamlike and ethereal. When it goes hard, JTN doesn’t fuck about with some biblically heavy riffs, drum parts, and vocal screaming, but it doesn’t just rely on assaulting your senses to achieve a sense of awe, as Blood Howl are more than happy, and capable, of writing some of the most achingly exquisite music you are likely to hear.

If you’re a regular reader of the site, you’ll know I live for brutal music as much as the next man, but if you can take that violence and have it move and sway in unison with something that is stunningly gorgeous in its composition, then the end result came be a perfect musical ballet. And on JTN, that is exactly what Blood Howl manages to achieve.

This a record that anyone who has even a passing interest in heavy music should listen to, as it shows that even intense emotion can be balanced with the perfect counterpoint.

Head on over to the Blood Howl Bandcamp page and check out JTN for yourself.