Review by Jeger on November 13, 2025.

Behold! As the pale moon casts its cool glow upon runes of elder times - telling of an age of enchantment forlorn - the age of the Nine. Hark to their whispers! For they are the voices that will unravel the fabric of time. In the age of Kings! In the age of Iron... Tolkien… Black Metal Artists cannot get enough of the stuff. Infernus named his band - one of the great Norwegian Black Metal bands after the valley of terror known as Gorgoroth - a barren wasteland just outside of Mordor. Other bands like Horna have dedicated album cuts like "A Ring To Rule" to Tolkien. Even Burzum was known as Uruk-Hai before the name was changed to Burzum. And "Burzum"? It is the Black Speech (Orc language) word for darkness. For some Artists, the realm of Middle-Earth feels like home; like one of those rainy afternoons spent engrossed in the story, as the world turned, all the while as words became adventure and adventure became Black Metal…

It's difficult to even picture what the scene would be like if not for Tolkien. One US Black Metal band, not a duo or a soloist but an actual band that also exists as a vessel for Tolkien worship is One Of Nine, and on October 31, they will release their sophomore effort, "Dawn Of The Iron Shadow", through Profound Lore Records.

In order to effectively relay the Tolkien vibe through Black Metal, an Artist must be adept at creating music that - through various tones and effects - creates a visuals-inducing experience; one that evokes images of Orcs and the Fellowship clinched in battle as the sun rises just over the mountainous horizon; the dewy sweat of the morn evaporating mistily up through the woodland canopy. As mistily as do the keyboard's chorale effects permeate the atmosphere during the majestic "Age Of Chains". Bells tolling and that whole Castle carved out of mountains, eagle flying over visual. The epic fantasy vibe captured successfully.

This is not wicked Black Metal… Black Metal for escaping and for questing the day is "Dawn Of The Iron Shadow". And Hulder… Making her striking contribution to "Dreadful Leap" - angelic cleans to strike up your imagination's kindling into a warm glow as visions of Valinorian sunsets are evoked - a golden fortune for a night of Elven mystification to come, or perhaps the last moments of warmth before a night of Nazgûl… The Nine! The Wraiths… Either way, the soundtrack is Black Metal, and in this case, it's BM of the most epic sort.

Suspense is the vibe during "Of Desperate Valor": racing blast-beats like the galloping of a mighty steed, dramatic shifts in tempo and a feeling of urgency, as if you are experiencing a critical few moments of the story. Turning through the pages now. Eagerly anticipating the next passage while the tremolo riffs fly and as Morgoth (M. of Lamp of Murmuur) amplifies the vox experience during "Behold The Shadow Of My Thoughts" with godlike vocals - a dual-textured attack with impassioned Azentrius-like gutturals that rise and then echo into a most active musical environment. There's always plenty going on everywhere at all times in both the fore and the backgrounds. It can get overwhelming at times, but not so much in a bad way. Something's gotta keep guys my age awake during albums…

A bit of everything for the Black Metal enthusiast and the Tolkien dork: sinister narrations, beyond majestic keyboard parts, synths, acoustics and a harp? Possibly. But it's an adventure! Not simply a Black Metal album. I've seen a lot of these fail. Where do some Artists get off trying to take on Tolkien? Have some respect for the legacy and at least be good… Well, One Of Nine is damn good. The whole record has that olde late '90's Finnish BM sound a la Azaghal and Sargeist. The somewhat harsh tonality of it paired with how the melodies roll just scream Suomi. That's a compliment. "Dawn Of The Iron Shadow" deserves compliments. This is a fine accompaniment to their debut, "Eternal Sorcery", which is stellar as well.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10