Ethereal Horizons

About the band

I’ve always felt that Blut Aus Nord is one of those bands that makes no concessions and precisely because of that, they remain essential in the world of extreme metal. Originating from France and with more than three decades of existence, the band, led by Vindsval, has navigated countless incarnations: from primitive black metal to dissonant and industrial experiments, from cosmic melancholy to the most challenging avant-garde. Each new album feels like a fresh start, a reinvention of itself.

With Ethereal Horizons (2025), they dive in once again but this time with the clear gaze of those who have already ridden internal storms and return with the wind at their back.

The immersion into the new album

When I launched into Ethereal Horizons, I felt as if I were opening a door to a particular cosmos, cold, vast, yet full of textures and nuances. The sound brings that familiar and unsettling presence: cutting guitars, harsh vocals, dense atmospheres. But there’s something different here: a clarity, an almost organic growth. The reverberations, deep and enveloping, don’t drown the instruments, on the contrary, they give space for each layer to breathe.

There’s a constant duality in the album: the rigidity of black metal with its explosive moments fuses with ethereal passages, almost meditative ambiences, melodies that float like sidereal echoes. This blend creates a rich contrast capable of transporting the listener from a sonic storm to a dreamlike space within seconds.

Building atmospheres and narratives

What impresses me about Ethereal Horizons is how the album becomes a living organism, constantly mutating. There are moments of fury, pure visceral black metal that give way to introspective moods, as if the music were breathing in cycles: it exhales pain, inhales melancholy, explodes in chaos, calms with beauty.

The layers of synthesizers, so present, work like a cosmic veil: sometimes enveloping like icy mist, sometimes rising like auroras over unknown landscapes. The melodies, at times sweet and almost melancholic, contrast with cutting riffs, reminding us that despite all refinement, the raw spirit of black metal still pulses underneath.

An evolution, without abandoning its roots

To me, Ethereal Horizons represents a mature evolution for Blut Aus Nord. The band seems to have gathered elements from its entire trajectory, the most ethereal moments, the most aggressive ones, the most dissonant and stitched everything into a coherent and sophisticated tapestry. There is a clear intention to explore atmospheric grandeur without letting go of the metal’s strength.

But this evolution doesn’t mean betraying its identity: the cold, the melancholy, the unpredictability, characteristics that have marked the band from the beginning are still there. Only with new tones, new ambiences, and an expansive ambition.

My final impression

Listening to Ethereal Horizons felt like waking up in a desert of stars, solitary, immense, and at the same time hypnotic. I felt small before the vastness of the sound, but also grand, as if an entire universe were contained in its sonic layers.

This album brings a promise of transcendence: it’s not just music to hear, but to feel, absorb, and get lost in. For those who, like me, love metal with soul, ambition, and depth this release reaffirms that Blut Aus Nord remains a unique force. Perhaps not their darkest or rawest record, but definitely one of their most intriguing, dense, and emotionally resonant.

If you’re willing to let each chord carry you far away to the edges of the unknown Ethereal Horizons deserves your attention.