Review by Michael on May 21, 2026.

I guess that Vreid don't need any further introduction here. The Norwegians are here with their already 10th full-length album and (shame on me) I never really cared too much about the works of the band. I cannot recall how it actually happened that I listened to "The Skies Turn Black" but it caught my full attention in the first seconds on my stereo.

The opener "From These Woods" is a very melancholic mid-tempo song with epic melodies and piano tunes that put you in that certain depressing mood like Wormwood always do with me when they release a new album. But we won't get too depressive won't we? The title track tends into another direction, sounding a lot like early In Flames, especially when it comes to the opening riff. Again, we have some mid-tempo tunes here, with a very catchy chorus and while the song evolves, it becomes more and more interesting because many things are happening in this one.

With "Kraken" the band is entering some foreign lands – an instrumental which appears in the Norwegian movie "Kraken" which is located in the deepest fjord of the Norwegian coast. It's quite synthesizer laden and somehow mysterious but fits quite well on that album though. Fun fact: the producer of that movie, Einar Loftesnes, was the music teacher of the band members about 30 years ago and songwriter Jarle Kvåle says about that track:

"Growing up by the Sognefjord at times felt like growing up in a David Lynch world. Einar has taken that atmosphere through his many projects and wrapped Sogn into that world. It was an absolute privilege to write music for the universe he has created, and I am proud that Vreid is now a part of this cinematic world."

"Flammen" appears to be more blackish than most of the rest. Some frosty riffs open the song and with the onset of some grim black metal vocals there is some heavy tremolo riffing to find. The lyrics are kept in Norwegian which gives the track even some more black metal feeling. I personally get reminded of some very old Enslaved songs before they started becoming that proggy. With the not too excessively used keyboards they create a very dense and epic atmosphere here. The same goes for "Smile Of Hate" which is a touch more melodic and catchier but still stuffed with a lot of black metal vibes.

In stark contrast to these songs are some of the other songs on "The Skies Turn Black". First of all the pensive and calm "Echoes Of Life" is something totally different from the previous songs. This is a song with clear vocals and acoustic guitars and directly after a song like "Smile Of Hate" it makes you fall off the demonic clouds you were floating on to land on the hard ground of reality. It is a really beautiful and sad song at the same time. Not as melancholic as this one is "Loving The Dead". Female vocals only, it spreads a certain creepy atmosphere because Agnete Kjølsrud (Djerv) is using her voice in so many different facets – screaming, whispering, singing. And again, acoustic guitars are used to create this special calmness and with the spooky keyboards the songs for sure have a special effect on the listener.

But Vreid don't leave us too melancholic into the darkness of the skies, before this "The Earth Rumbles". A gloomy Hammond organ introduces us to the grand finale, airy guitars set in and off we go into a heavy album closer with some thunderous drumming. This is really a dark end:

"In the blink of an eye, it all went away
Dreams that were endless, now nightmares blind the day
Endlessly drifting, merely existing
A pile of blood and bone, isolated by memories"

Rating: 8.5 out of 10