Sleep White Winter - Dreamscapes (2013)

While blackgaze in 2013 may be dominated by Deafheaven's Sunbather, an excellent record entirely worthy of its praise, this obscure album comes awfully close to rivaling it. The music is at once haunting and ferocious; beautiful and cathartic. It's quite easy to imagine listening to it in the middle of a forest during winter or, alternatively, in a vast meadow during summer. As the title suggests, this is an album that takes you wherever your imagination wants to go with some of the dreamiest, most majestic black metal I've heard. With any luck, this album will become as least as popular as Sunbather; I certainly think it should be. If you're a fan of Alcest, Lantlos, Coldworld etc. then this phenomenal album should be right up your alley.
9.5/10