{"id":227923,"date":"2025-12-22T17:56:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/?p=227923"},"modified":"2025-12-22T17:56:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T16:56:40","slug":"panopticon-songs-of-hiraeth-things-you-might-have-missed-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/panopticon-songs-of-hiraeth-things-you-might-have-missed-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Panopticon – Songs of Hiraeth [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I spent so long this summer submerged in Panopticon<\/strong>’s discography, once I came back up, I was overwhelmed by the amount of things I’d missed or needed to get a headstart on. Consequently, I didn’t spend a huge amount of time with Songs of Hiraeth<\/em> when it first dropped; I listened, loved it, made a note to TYMHM it, and moved on. It was only as Autumn started to turn into Winter and the seasonal chill reminded me of not just my end-of-year writing obligations, but the snowy wildernesses of Northern America (and Northern Europe, where much of Songs of Hiraeth <\/em>was conceived). I’m not necessarily suggesting that the shorter days and the colder temperatures made the music sound better\u2014I spent a significant chunk of my ranking-preparation listening in the south of France, and it sounded excellent as always then. But in some way, mine, the environment’s, and the album’s auras aligned, and everything was set for Songs of Hiraeth<\/em> to reach full power.<\/p>\n

Comprised of songs composed between 2009 and 2011,1<\/a><\/sup> the album is a window into a hidden alternate microcosm within Panopticon<\/strong>’s discography. But it’s one that lays bare seeds of growth that were carried on into the actual, later sound and spirit. Slow, dreamy, gazelike soundscapes (“The Road to Bergen,” “The White Mountain View,”), and syrupy, forlorn guitars shrouded in atmosphere (“A Letter,” “The Eulogy”), express the later music’s gentler, more often reflective aspect that plays as significant a role as the raw black metal.2<\/a><\/sup> You can also see the gradual maturity in experimentation, with transitions between that folk-tinged softness and wintry fury more natural than on the debut, and Collapse<\/em>, albeit still less ethereally perfect than they would become (“From Bergen to Jotunheimen,” “The White Mountain View”).<\/p>\n