Review by Dominik on August 24, 2025.

Black metal for many bands is usually about frostbitten forests, Satan, or dying alone in a cave while your cassette recorder eats the tape. Then there are bands which decide on a clear, sometimes ancient theme—ideally something cloaked in mystery—and build their whole artistic world around it. Sumerian Tombs has done exactly that. They chose one of humanity's oldest civilizations as their playground: the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (today's south-central Iraq). They were supposedly among the first people developing a functional writing system, early forms of law codes or the foundation for today's current system of timekeeping, and, according to folklore, gave us enough vengeful spirits to make the afterlife look like a particularly messy divorce. Unsurprisingly, that's Sumerian Tombs' source for inspiration, as the opener "Edimmu Rising" makes abundantly clear.

The more pressing question, though, is how this new effort compares to their debut, which was an excellent slab of second-wave black metal with just enough own personality to stand out. I went into "Age Of Eternal Night" with high hopes, and after months of listening, I'd say the band hasn't fallen, but they've definitely stumbled. The debut had that near perfect mix of aggression, well dosed restraint and surprise. This one sometimes feels like they're testing how far they can stretch black metal's notoriously tight boundaries before it snaps. It's not "progressive" in the sense of adding saxophones or frog choruses, but it's still a demanding listen—occasionally brilliant, and sometimes frustrating. One could label the release as a case study in over-ambition: the kind of sophomore album where the band stares into the abyss, and the abyss politely tells them they're overcomplicating things. The sometimes much needed self-control has packed its bags and fled to Babylon.

To be fair, there's plenty here that works. The visual aesthetic and lyrical framework are spot-on. The atmosphere, or the occasional nod to Middle Eastern melodies—they all help to translate the ancient theme into music. "Cuutha – Necropolis" is a prime example, with guitar lines that shimmer with an oriental touch. It's well-executed, even if it's not particularly new (Melechesh have been at it like since forever).

Musically, the album starts strong. After another ritualistic intro, "Edimmu Rising" carries over some of the debut's energy, with plenty of blasts alternating with hard hitting mid-tempo and the occasional five seconds reprieve to catch your breath. However, two things quickly become obvious. First, much more emphasis is put on creating a suitable atmosphere: the production is thick, claustrophobic, and makes you feel like you're sitting in a damp tomb with the band rehearsing in the next crypt. Second, speed has been traded more often than not for mid-tempo weight, at times even a suffocating crawl. When the balance works, as it does in the first two tracks, the effect is crushing, and the dynamics work in favor of the songs.

But then we hit specimen like "Epitaph In Blood", which should have been a triumph. Which isn't a bad song. Which flirts with greatness. Which taunts you like a sadistic safari guide: every time you think you've found the lions you're told to wait for a better spot. At the 2:15 and 4:30 marks, the band unleashes brilliant riffs that gallop like a haunted herd of antelopes, and for a glorious moment you believe that now the lions are here to stay. But by the end, they simply have wandered off, and you're left with mosquito bites and regret. A song that could have been legendary is instead an exercise in "what could have been, if…." and you're left muttering about wasted potential. The added vocal variety is welcome, but it can't mask the feeling of missed opportunities.

For newcomers into Sumerian Tombs' musical universe, the title track is perhaps the best entry point. It feels most in line with the debut and works as a perfect bridge between the two albums. It is direct, immediate, engaging, and showing just enough restraint to give you room to breathe. It would have been the near perfect ending—dramatic, satisfying and redeeming things a bit. But no. That's just the end of disc one.

Disc two brings "bonus tracks", though the definition of "bonus" here seems more like "stuff we weren't sure where else to put". Three of the four are ambient or acoustic experiments: a complete absence of tremolo riffs, some clean vocals or eerie chants, ominous piano notes creeping in like mold through basement walls. Interesting in small doses, but if I wanted background noise for staring at the ceiling, I'd leave my fridge door ajar. I know, I can be an old-fashioned, narrow-minded s.o.b., but my patience for overly generous interpretations of what still counts as the genre's core trademarks has been worn paper-thin over the decades. At least the closer of disc 2 remembers it is located on a black metal album. With the help of Kerem Yilmaz, vocalist of the German outfit Imha Tarikat, the band injects some welcome variety. The track again is more accessible, featuring a sharp vocal duel during the mid-song blast, and slowdowns that feel deliberate and organic, rather than "dictated" by some soulless algorithm.

So where does that leave "Age Of Eternal Night"? In the end, the album is a mixed bag. It's not a bad album—far from it—but it doesn't live up to the high bar set by the debut. There are moments of brilliance, but also stretches that feel like the band drowned in their own pool of ideas. With luck, album number three will marry the spontaneity of the first with the ambition of the second. Sumerian Tombs clearly has the talent; they just tried to cram an entire civilization's worth of ideas into this one album.

Raring 7.8 out of 100, because I must penalize for the filler, masquerading as a second disc, for turning potentially great songs into missed opportunities, for reminding me that patience is a finite resource, and because disappointment always stings more when you actually believed in the band.

Review by Michael on August 18, 2025.

Aaahhhrgghh!!! The first hellish scream shakes your bones and the following tremolo-picking is simply blowing you away. What German Sumerian Tombs have created on their sophomore album "Age Of Eternal Night" is a great step further than what they did on their self-titled debut from 2022. Not unsimilar to bands like Melechesh or Anzv (who also released a very good album lately) the guys create some Middle Eastern atmosphere with the melodies and also with the lyrical content.

Basically dealing with vampirism and Sumerian mysteries they tell some really nice horror stories about a pilgrim searching for occult wisdom and vampiric arcane knowledge and this is a continuation of the story from the debut. This of course matches perfectly to the band name and, unlike what Cradle Of Filth do quite often, this image isn't exaggerated or some kind of slapstick. I had the pleasure of seeing them live a while ago and they did a really great job with that.

And also the music has turned out very powerful. Sometimes the black metal is kind of doom-laden, in some parts are some ghastly female vocals incorporated. And often it is just some monolithic, trance-like black metal ill-fevered dream. But at some point, there are almost danceable, super catchy parts to find also, like in "Cuutha – Necropolis". Galloping like a battle camel (remember, we are in the Middle East and I sometimes cannot do much else but using some stupid stereotypes) through the desert, this is a really super groovy song. Apart from the vocals which are more screamed out and remind me a lot of the second Zyklon album (if anybody still remembers this band). Also the melody-lines offer a lot of drama, especially in the last third of the track.

"The Seal – Blood Mediation" starts like a Lovecraftian horror story with sinister keyboard tunes and creeping guitars and spreads a certain uncomfortable and threatening atmosphere. Maybe it could be the perfect sound back then when Howard Carpenter opened King Tutankhamun back in 1922…and we all know about the curse of opening that very special grave, don't we? Underlined with Arabic tunes, this song is a quite doomy but very dark and sinister song. Of course it isn't about that event but deals with vampirism and sometimes I have a vivid mental imagination.

"The Age Of Eternal Night" is the last regular song on the album and with it comes some wild hunting again. This is a super fast and still very melodic song at the very beginning but here and there some slower parts have crept in. The song lives from its dense atmosphere that is created through the sawing guitars and the hateful vocals. So the album ends as it started – with some really harsh and raging black metal which is produced really well. Maybe the drums could sound a little bit more powerful but it could also depend on my speakers that don't sound as they could.

This is a really remarkable work from the Germans and if you have the chance to get the album or see them live, you should do that. You won't be disappointed, I promise!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10