Style: Folk Black Metal / Post‑Black Metal For fans of: Wolves In The Throne Room, Agalloch, Saor
Country: USA Release: May 8, 2026
Det Hjemsøkte Hjertet completes Austin Lunn’s Laurentian Trilogy and is the most mature, most emotionally charged and most ambitious work of his career. The album works like a journey through the experiences, memories and existential concerns of its creator — a work that unites the American folk tradition with modern atmospheric black metal.
The biggest difference compared to the previous albums of the trilogy is the huge emphasis on the strings. Violins, violas and cellos dominate the melodic writing, often replacing the guitars as the main carrier of themes. The review points out that the strings “swim through the sound” and create a sense of warmth that contrasts with the frozen black metal base.
The album opens with “Woodland Caribou”, a track that begins exclusively with strings and harsh vocals, before erupting into a blizzard of tremolo and blast beats. From there on, the album works like a continuous storm: dense, suffocating, full of layers of sound that “bury” you inside the atmosphere.
Tracks like “The Great Silence, Extinct” and “A Culture of Wilderness” are basically black metal, but with the melodies played entirely by strings — something the review describes as “unusual but extremely effective”. “The White Cedars” is a highlight: blast beats, cello solos, harsh vocals, choral parts and clean vocals that work as emotional redemption.
The composition is based on lengthy repetitions, with riffs played for whole minutes, changing only through the addition and subtraction of instruments. This creates huge climaxes — like the guitar solo at the end of “The Great Silence, Extinct” — but also makes the structures somewhat predictable.
The production is warm, with stereo placement that allows the strings to “travel” from channel to channel. The review points out that the sound recalls Cascadian black metal: detached, nature-loving, like listening to music in front of a fireplace while it snows outside.
Thematically, the album speaks of isolation, existentialism, loss of community and the need for human connection. The clean vocals — featuring seven different guests — add a human, almost ritualistic dimension. The review notes that the emotional intensity is so great that at points it becomes “exhausting”, with the album needing more breathers like the calmer “Lyset”.
Det Hjemsøkte Hjertet closes as it began: with natural sounds, strings and a sense that the listener has completed a long, demanding but deeply beautiful journey. The review calls it “one of the most impressive black metal works written in America — perhaps in the world”.
Final score: 7.3
Recommended tracks: Woodland Caribou, Blood and Fur Upon the Melting Snow, The White Cedars, Ghost Eyes in the Fire Light
Related links: Bandcamp | Instagram
Label: Bindrune Recordings
Panopticon is:
– Austin Lunn: vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keys, pedal steel, lap steel, wood flute, samples and sound collage
With guests:
– Charlie Anderson: violin, viola, cello, additional choir vocals
– Alex CF: harsh vocals on “Woodland Caribou”
– Aaron Charles: harsh vocals on “The Great Silence, Extinct”
– Andy Klockow: clean vocals on “Blood and Fur Upon The Melting Snow”
– Jan Even Åsli: clean vocals on “The White Cedars”
– Jan Van Berlekom: clean and harsh vocals on “A Culture Of Wilderness”
– Jordan Day: clean vocals on “Ghost Eyes In The Fire Light”
