Metalhead nerds of the world can rejoice once more as Noctule (spearheaded by ex-Svalbard front Serena Cherry) returns to show just why video games and extreme metal go hand in hand.
Following up on 2021’s Skyrim-themed atmospheric black metal Wretched Abyss was always going to be a unique challenge, to say the least. Where do you go from there with something so specific, so tied to a particular place and time (even if that place and time is fictional)? Well, the answer, it seems, was clear: you go somewhere completely different, take new inspiration and create a heavy metal soundtrack that fits.
This time round sees Noctule entering The Lands Between. “Arise Tarnished” is the call, and those who answer will experience the grandeur, the chaos, the beauty, the decay and the horror that the world of Elden Ring has to offer.
From the very first moments of ‘Welcome to Limgrave’, listeners know they are in for a treat: the epic journey of being placed into a world that seems to grow and grow. Even within this short instrumental, it evokes that feeling of embarking on something vast, terrifying and spiritually challenging. There’s wonder here but also trepidation, that unmistakable feeling of stepping out into Limgrave for the first time and realising that whatever waits beyond the horizon is probably going to kill you.
From paedophilic, incestuous legacy-obsessed blood demons and half-man, half-snake deity devourers to rotten, health-cheating, one-armed warrior princesses, each track is dedicated to some of the most memorable remembrance bosses from the game. They all have their own unique flavour, whilst still remaining connected to the wider whole. Importantly though, this never becomes a novelty record. Knowledge of Elden Ring adds another layer, but underneath all the references is an extreme metal album more than capable of standing on its own two feet.
The first thing seasoned listeners of Noctule will notice is the shift in styles to a more melodic-death metal sound, but don’t fear that grim, blackened edge is still there; the riffing is just sharper, more angular and weighty. This is perhaps most prevalent in the opening to ‘Devour The Gods’. Heavy rhythmic riffing, punctured with a melody that builds and grows and evolves, much like the namesake for the song. It’s more direct and aggressive than the previous album; it hits you with multiple riffs and movements at once and takes multiple listens to fully get to grips with.
That increased aggression gives the different bosses their own musical identities too. ‘Grafted’ twists and mutates through its ideas with a suitably grotesque energy, whilst ‘Lament of the Omen King’ brings back more of that enormous sense of melancholy. The latter is particularly effective because underneath all the grandeur of Elden Ring, so many of these characters are fundamentally tragic, broken things, and lyrically, Noctule seems just as interested in capturing that sadness, recreating the thrill of fighting them.
‘Goddess of Rot’ proves another standout moment on this release, and where Noctule as a project feels the most familiar, heavy atmospheric builds, a lamenting, lilting melody full of melancholy, regret and fear. A song where every emotion of abandonment and loss can be felt, the tremolo riffing that rises and falls but never lets up, feeling like the final stand of someone who knows deep down that they will soon know defeat, perhaps they already have, but hope still lingers enough for one last fight.
The two-part masterpiece ‘O’ Death’ and ‘Become My Blade Once More’ bring you the experience of facing the Beast Clergyman, the relative calm before the storm that is the pure, unadulterated chaos that is Maliketh, the Black Blade. Drums and riffs are attacking you from every side, making you unsure of exactly what is going on. It is fast, it is furious, and it stamps the album with a sense of unbridled aggression, fear and struggle within the grand landscape it has crafted.
And that ultimately is where Extinguish Thy Flame succeeds most. This isn’t simply an album with songs named after things Serena Cherry likes in Elden Ring; it understands what makes that world so captivating in the first place. Beauty and horror exist side by side; triumph is usually preceded by being absolutely battered into the ground, and even victory can carry an overwhelming sense of sadness.
Noctule has taken the foundations laid by Wretched Abyss and levelled up in almost every direction. Bigger riffs, stronger contrasts and a greater sense of aggression sit alongside the atmosphere that made the project so compelling in the first place. Whether you have spent hundreds of hours wandering The Lands Between or couldn’t tell your Godrick from your Godfrey (or Godefroy for that matter), there is plenty here to sink your teeth into. For those who do know the game, though, put the headphones on, close your eyes and prepare to die.
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