Yellow Eyes upped their game with their second full length, Hammer Of Night, an expansive atmospheric black metal beauty that has raised the band’s profile in the US black metal landscape while clinging to lo-fi underground status. If there isn’t a New York black metal sound, there is at the very least a certain group of bands around these parts that play in a school whose most well-known pupil would be Krallice, I’m talking ambitious atmospheric black metal that is layered thick and overlaid with near-constant warbling guitars. Yellow Eyes nails this style by crafting songs that are as gorgeous as they are gritty and that don’t top the 7-minute mark — a big relief for the 10-minute-plus road-weary among us. Hammer Of Night puts Yellow Eyes among the top of the NYC black metal scene. –Wyatt
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