Ambition drives new artists. It is common to find up-and-coming musicians striving to extend traditions they deem valuable. More often than not, this is a gradual process of maturation, one that takes time to reach its end goal. Denmark’s Scimitar is one of these rare cases where ambition appears to be almost instantly fulfilled. Their 2025 debut, Scimitarium I, collides core heavy metal ideals with extreme metal, progressive structures, and dissonant leanings. Sharp, pristine riffs twist slightly, while epic crescendos and over-the-top vocal performances arrive with a discordant edge. Yet, as intricate and ambitious as their debut is, Scimitarium II looks to surpass all expectations.
In Scimitarium I, the heavy metal pedigree is at the centre. It defines rhythmic structures, timbre, and hooks. It still guides the compositions of Scimitarium II, but this time around, it is contorted. The record’s closing track, “Mobula Mobular”, best exemplifies this, with the traditional, stainless steel riffing taking the lead, and midway into the track exploding into a guitar hero-esque solo that will melt your face off. Filled with catchy melodies and sweet phrasing, it draws a direct line back to NWOBHM. However, in most places, these mechanics undergo a more rigorous process. “Lunacy Jewels” similarly carries the trademarks of traditional heavy metal, but the discordant edge overtakes them, and the volatile progression pushes toward stranger, more off-kilter forms.
Here, Scimitar’s black metal allure plays a more central role. Tied with the heavy metal mechanics, the route from Mercyful Fate to Negative Plane, by way of Necromantia, lies straight ahead. This inverted heavy metal motto suits Scimitar well, and their obsession with discordant guitar work imbues their music with the same extreme yet strangely traditional aura. “Magnetic Venom” pushes the black metal heritage even further, with Scimitar reaching for a grander manifestation; the composition verges toward the regal classicism of Emperor’s IX Equilibrium, albeit in a more erratic form.
Again, Scimitar continue to build on the foundations they laid down with their debut. The destabilised form, which occasionally appeared in Scimitarium I, becomes pivotal in Scimitarium II. It provides the black metal fervour with its fire, but it also supercharges the band’s progressive inclinations. The influence of Hammers of Misfortune cannot be overstated, with Scimitar further twisting the heavy metal structures towards strange, progressive ends. The influence lends an avant-garde quality to “A Reverence Warning”, with the furious drumming becoming almost a blur, while the vocals soar through the dense instrumentation like a beam of light.
While these were components always present in Scimitar’s music, Scimitarium II also opens the band up to new directions. “Through Lava Lit Roads to Lavilenda, Pt. II” takes a comparatively clean and atmospheric plunge, its mesmerising quality drawing from a different side of doom. It verges toward the Sabbath Assembly or even the Devil’s Blood aesthetic, creating a mystical and inescapable ceremony. Here, sound design becomes crucial, with Scimitar putting feedback to great use to sculpt an asphyxiating, all-encompassing sonic vortex.
Despite its extravagant presentation, Scimitarium II ultimately proves to be a lesson in balance. Beneath all the cacophony and chaos, Scimitar are always in control, harnessing these expressions rather than being consumed by them. That allows them to stretch further, push their complex structures to new heights, and reach an even more destabilized state, making their blackened eeriness more striking than before, all while retaining the vibrant heavy metal spirit still shining beneath the debris. Scimitarium I is unquestionably ambitious, but Scimitarium II is on a different level.