Just two years removed from their smoldering debut, Black Lava come roaring back on The Savage Winds to Wisdom. The Aussie’s second album erupts from the same crusted cauldron of influences. Blackened countermelodies and a hex of heavy, proggish rhythms boil amidst old-school death metal, spilling over into medieval fantasies. Carved from a slithering groove and one bone-crushing riff, “Ironclad Sarcophagus” raises an ancient wizard from the crypt. The peculiar alchemy of Black Lava pools together with the ease and fury of a mythic flood. Dan Presland also drums alongside guitarist Ben Boyle in Vipassi and Presland’s old Ne Obliviscaris bandmate Benjamin Baret pops in for an eerily screeching solo on the title track. But the band took their time in building the cavernous world that lies within The Savage Winds to Wisdom. It’s not until the opening track has bubbled to a nice and sludgy head that Rob Watkins unleashes the first of many blood-soaked roars. “Speak to me O silent one”, he beckons amidst thunderous, rain-soaked ambience. On The Savage Winds to Wisdom, Black Lava summon a perfect storm of blackened heavy metal.
1. Colour Of Death
2. Dark Legacy
3. Wrapped In Filth
4. Unsheathing Nightmares
5. Summoning Shadows
6. Ironclad Sarcophagus
7. Pagan Dust
8. Sanguis Lupus
9. The Savage Winds To Wisdom