I can understand why a lot of musicians these days are moving towards the one-man approach for many of their black metal projects. Obviously this would increase flexibility in the creative process, as well as cut out the arduous process of scheduling practice sessions with any notoriously noncommittal musicians.

Hailing from Virginia, Wormtongue is a fairly new one-man project in the grand scheme of things, forming in 2004. The most recent EP shows promising results, and stretching just over 24 minutes in length, it packs a bit of a punch. With track titles hinting at somewhat broad subjects such as Tolkien and Lovecraftian, the consistency of the disc remains a bit more focused on the presentation, rather than the subject matter.

While the disc is very much black metal, there are several folk guitar sections strewn about which will give the listener a chance to breathe between the moments of dense agression. The transitions between the two styles can sometimes feel a bit heavy handed, though this is also effective in spots such as the final seconds of the fourth track, these moments would likely improve with some adjustments. The abrupt the folk instrumentation feels as raw and primitive as its counterpart, even reminiscent of Satyricon’s early work. There is also a layer of keyboard melody which manages to chime in subtly and assist the already existing melodies when delivering the push towards the end of certain songs.

Although the release is only four tracks long, Wormtongue shows some rather adept work and great potential for things to come.

You can find more information about Wormtongue here.