Spectral Lore

This year’s most dynamic black metal album is Spectral Lore’s Ετερόφωτος, which comes out Friday through I, Voidhanger Records. The sole province of Greek musician Ayloss, he weaves through a battery that sounds heroic and adventurous minus the arrogance, some of the most serene 2010s post-black metal more prevalent in his other work (“Ατραπός”), dissonant chaos (the aptly named “Apocalypse”), and ambient stretches that blur the line between destruction and renewal (closer “Terean”), bursting through once again with a singular work. I first came to Spectral Lore through his 2015 EP Gnosis and was struck by its doomy mysticism; Ετερόφωτος sounds markedly different yet retains that mystical air. Ultimately, it’s a record about honoring your roots and learning to transcend them all the same....