It’d be a disservice to simplify Det Hjemsøkte Hjertet’s theme as ‘environmental’. Its story is bigger than that, far more unique. The album observes how an outsider culture may endorse environmental preservation where an existing culture has neglected it, in this case, the Nordic immigrant culture that had once made a mark on attitudes concerning wildlife preservation in Minnesota before it was obscured by modern Americanism, by technology, consumerism and celebrity fetishism. I suppose it’d be just as shortsighted to take a pro-immigration / xenophilic stance from said messaging and be on your way, but I think Austin Lunn has confirmed a sense of positivity in adopting the ideals of the Scandinavians, perhaps making the album to honour them in the same way that he honours them by performing a genre of music with origins in northern Europe.

But what about the musiiiic? Well, it’s been a while since a Panopticon album was so committed to capturing the soaring, euphoric highs of black metal. Even in Austin Lunn’s supposed glory days (the Kentucky / Roads to the North / Autumn Eternal era), his love of bluegrass and Americana was favoured to the point of downplaying the validity of an album just being black metal. One could argue the themes of Det Hjemsøkte Hjertet could’ve benefitted from the rustic, woodland style of Panopticon’s past, but black metal alone – I say that, but this is atmospheric / symphonic black metal – does the job. The album features all of the expected tricks of black metal; the satanic roars, heavy-fast rhythm guitars and mechanical drums, but especially the crescendos, best demonstrated by Ghost Eyes in the Fire Light’s journey from dark beginnings to a film score-style, orchestral climax.

There are two things that I think greatly assist these tricks. Firstly, Austin’s familiar chord progressions, that poke through, certainly help with the sentimental/emotional aspect. It’s impressive how the roaring, hellish, fast-paced hijinks of The Great Silence, Extinct remain idyllic. They also apply to Blood and Fur Upon the Melting Snow, alongside guitar melodies that are somehow both faint and powerful, a structure that captures the thought of something being cut down and built back up (like a demolished forest), and an incredible crescendo involving a string melody that forms a bumpy dynamic with the piece’s rhythm section – amazing dun-DUN dun-DUN phrases.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the versatility of Charlie Anderson’s string arrangements allow the album to feel unlike anything else. Some of Panopticon’s best string interpolations splatter emotion across Woodland Caribou, initially used for backing melody, but then, they consume. The arrangement of The White Cedars is very intricate, producing a unique, soul-searching melody out of multiple orchestral strings. They add so much more life to the passages of chords that link each bar, entering after the five minute mark. A Culture of Wilderness, the best of the bunch, contains a stunning violin melody, screeching yet beautiful, that the song revolves around for much of its run. It is, quite simply, the most intense feeling sparked by a Panopticon composition, a mix of discomfort and urgent emotion.

Best track – A Culture of Wilderness.

Rating – 9 out of 10