Vicky
In case you’ve been living under a gigantic stone (not even a rock) for the past three or so decades and you have no idea what’s been going on in Northern European Black Metal, here’s a not-so-gory-and-without-too-many-details close-up: there was this Norwegian band called Mayhem, that started playing Occult Metal, did all sorts of highly “interesting” things, and got a lot of media attention due to two deaths in the group – the suicide of Per Yngve Ohlin (a.k.a. Dead), and the murder of Øystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous), committed by fellow bandmate Varg Vikernes (currently of Burzum). Now, with that in mind (and without too much morbid information on the topic, you’re welcome), we can go on and talk about the new Haimad material, the band’s debut album, When Night Rode Across the North. For your information, the band has been active for 25 years, however, as aforestated, this is their first full-length material.
Haimad is a Swedish band that, according to my personal opinion, actually tries to walk in Burzum’s shoes. And, weirdly, this time, it’s not a bad thing. On the contrary, actually, it seems as if these Swedes are pretty much the best Modern Black Metal band. With shrieks, intense drumming, both acoustic, and electric guitars (and talented guitarists, of course), and melodic/symphonic elements. Overall, Haimad did exceed my expectations regarding the “symphonic” part, and also fulfilled my desire to watch Black Metal continuing to thrive.
One thing that certainly pops up is the production. I won’t call it ancient, but let’s just say that When Night Rode Across the North, despite being released in 2025, sounds a lot like Burzum’s Dunkelheit (which saw the light of day back in ’96!). I guess this doesn’t make Haimad look too great, but it does make them look highly kvlt.
Vn-trve people, you might want to leave now, before it’s too late, and you get traumatised. Now, that it’s just us, humans who like/tolerate/listen to Black Metal, we can finally talk business. Here is the interesting Haimad lineup on the album When Night… did so, so, so many things, including the fact that it Rode Across the North: Azradan – Conjurer of the great darkness and strings; Szhethil – Nocturnal worship and orchestrations; Infaustus – Necromantic devotion and throat of rot; Dominator – Funeral storms and battery. For future reference, yes, I do regret saying the band is great and then adding their “conjurer of the strings” (and of the great darkness, obviously). Given that I am unable to find more good parts about this album, and talking about Burzum again would probably be boring (though, hopefully it isn’t!), we can just wrap things up quickly and let these poor Swedes carry on riding across the North together with the night.
So, to conclude, Haimad is about to release a remarkably good record. The production is somewhat faulty, but nothing that can’t be fixed through a second listen. All in all, I’d say that When Night Rode Across the North is a pretty solid LP, and I for one am sure that we are definitely going to hear a lot more about this band in the future.
Label: Northern Silence Productions
Release date: November 7, 2025
Website: https://haimad.bandcamp.com/
Country: Sweden
Score: 3.3/5.0
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