Review by Michael on March 31, 2026.

When I first listened to "The Wild Divine" by Californian Aldheorte I instantly fell in love with that second album by the band. I don't know if it is because of the rough, frosty harshness the guys create or because of the warming, hopeful parts they also let creep into their music. The result is a very entertaining piece of traditional black metal which combines some more American-orientated stuff like Wolves In The Throne Room, you know that Cascadian style like in the opener "Vanity" with a lot of tradition Scandinavian vibes, primarily Bathory when it comes to the more melodic and atmospheric parts. Especially in a song such as "Hesperus" you can clearly hear those influences right from the beginning. Of course I mean the Viking-era with the albums "Hammerheart" and "Twilight Of The Gods" of course.

But you can also hear the roughness and somewhat impetuous approach in the music which makes it quite an entertaining trip to listen to. In the seven songs with a total running time of about 37 minutes happen so much that it is even hard to fully describe the music. And be assured, every song has its own signature so that you can find a lot of surprises and no fillers on "The Wild Divine". Apropos the title track – this is another one with a lot of cool references. Reminding a lot of Emperors "In The Nightside Eclipse" in the beginning, the song evolves into a fast and furious black metal blizzard. The guitars sometimes sound pretty industrial-black metal-like, as if Mysticum had written some parts here. This is a highly interesting track because of its different approach. But Aldheorte can also write some slower songs like the closer "The Offering". This is a very atmospheric track with a lot of keyboard layers and quite well to take a deep breath after the Wild Hunt we went through the last half an hour.

And although the band speed through their songs with Warp 10, they never lose control of what they are doing here and also find the perfect timing to incorporate some rousing atmospheric parts in the songs or create some stunning melodies, like in "Prayers To The Fallen Gods". Nothing on the album appears to be odd or half-hearted, you can clearly notice that the band has figured out something with "The Wild Divine" and fully stand behind what they are doing.

This you can also recognize in the production which has turned out to be top notch, at least on my speakers and on the promo I have. There is no lo-fi black metal sound and it all sounds crisp and powerful. And if I didn't read that they had a drum computer, I actually wouldn't think so. The drumming sounds really good and quite human. Wow, damn.

Even if I wanted to, I have really nothing to complain about the album. This is probably one of the most outstanding black metal highlights in 2026 and everyone who is into that genre should have it on their shopping list. Or ask the Easter Bunny if he can bring it together with some live gigs by Aldheorte.

Rating: 10 out of 10 Easter Bunnies