Panopticon – “Autumn Eternal”

Panopticon – “Autumn Eternal”

Panopticon mastermind Austin Lunn relocated from Louisville to Minnesota last year (to open up a Bathory-inspired brewery!), a transition that can be mapped in the man’s musical choices and album titles: Panopticon’s 2012 LP was called Kentucky, and its 2014 follow-up was called Roads To The North. On past Panopticon records, Lunn’s Southern roots were laid pretty bare — you don’t hear much banjo in black metal these days, but Panopticon made it work — but he seems to have settled comfortably into his frigid new environs. The title track from Panopticon’s upcoming Autumn Eternal has a decidedly Nordic feel. That description might imply that it sounds derivative of the genre’s Scandinavian forefathers, but the music rejects any such simplistic reduction; if anything, Lunn’s unique creative vision feels more focused than ever. Few black metal bands from any region — either domestic or imported — evince such ambition, and fewer still have the ability to pull it off. “Autumn Eternal” is a monster of a song, and knowing Lunn’s catalog to date, it portends a similarly monstrous full-length on the horizon. Today is the first fall-feeling day of 2015 here in NYC, and it’s the perfect weather for this appropriately titled track — although this thing would sound pretty fucking great in any season. Listen.

Autumn Eternal is out 10/16 via Nordvis. Pre-order it here (and download the song when you do).

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