Scottish black metallers Ifrinn (Scottish Gaelic for ‘hell’) made noticeable waves on their 2106 self-titled demo, Ifrinn. Now signed to Finnish indie The Sinister Flame, the mysterious outfit returns with Caledonian Black Magick, an EP fraught with ancient dangers that hadn’t–until now–descended below the Vallum Antonini. Not much is known about Ifrinn. Their brand of black metal is both chaotic and introspective. At no time on Caledonian Black Magick do the group pander the genre’s most salacious tenents, but rather focus inward on crafting vision and sound that is hypnotic yet destructive. To wit, the presence of Scottish traditional music in all its gregarious forms is faint if not at all observable in parts. This grants Ifrinn the ability to transcend its geography and the cultural tie-downs that go with it. Ifrinn are, indeed, not of Scotland. They exist omnipresent and stateless.
“Written and completed immediately after the first release, Caledonian Black Magick has been an EP mired with lengthy setbacks culminating with the pandemic no less. However, it is a testament to the indomitable will of the nightside, that it cannot be hindered, ignored or contained. Caledonian Black Magick was committed to record finally in the Scottish Highlands under the eerie gaze of an October full moon in 2019, whilst mastered by the World Tree Forge (Mongrel’s Cross/Fate’s Hand) in Oceania the following year of plague. The instrumentation has shown a significant increase in hostility and aggression, highlighting a deeper path Ifrinn mean to traverse sonically and spiritually. There will be a lesser wait betwixt future compositions. It’s merely a glimpse into the maw of darkness possessed by this esoteric constellation. Regarding the title piece, “Caledonian Black Magick” serves as an ode to those who dance at the witches sabbath and toil with devilry upon this ancient land.”
Part the seas of normality. Swim in the blood of another bygone age. Feel the flesh of dead gods and goddesses.
