Review: One of Nine – Dawn of the Iron Shadow

Review by Rick Eaglestone

One of Nine – Dawn of the Iron Shadow

Record Label: Profound Lore Records

Year: 2025

Rating: 10/10

The page turns, and so old sorceries fade. Túrin, son of Húrin, hath struck dead Glaurung, and so closeth the jaws of flame and ruin! One of Nine lift voices in the retelling, to proffer a glimpse upon the Dawn of Iron Shadow.

From the moment the opening track Parley at the Gates begins, you are immediately transported into the world of the Nine—those shrouded, innominate heralds of the Hungering King. The band wastes no time in establishing their intent, with tremolo-picked melodies cascading over blast beats whilst dungeon synth elements weave seamlessly through the soundscape.

What strikes me most about Dawn Of The Iron Shadow is the balance the band achieves between ferocity and atmosphere. Age of Chains demonstrates this perfectly, with its galloping tempo and razor-sharp riffs giving way to passages of haunting, almost medieval beauty.

Lead single Dreadful Leap, featuring Hulder as the Tear Maiden, is nothing short of mesmerising. The collaboration works beautifully, with Hulder’s ethereal vocals providing a stark contrast to the more demonic tones that dominate much of the album.

One of Nine

Of Desperate Valor continues this momentum, with marching rhythms giving way to full-throttle gallops that would make any battlefield commander proud, everything is crystal clear without sacrificing any of the raw power that makes this album so compelling. You can hear every tremolo flourish, every keyboard embellishment, and every nuance of the drum patterns.

The album’s midpoint, Behold the Shadow of My Thoughts, features M. of  Lamp of Murmuur, and it is here that Dawn Of The Iron Shadow reaches one of its many peaks. The track is expansive, taking its time to build atmosphere before unleashing waves of Melodic Black Metal fury. The Dungeon Synth passages here are particularly evocative, conjuring images of ancient towers and forgotten lore.

Bauglir serves as a spoken interlude of sorts, providing context and narrative exposition that enriches the album’s conceptual framework. It’s a brave choice to include such a track, but it works because it feels earned rather than pretentious. The gravitas in the delivery, coupled with the rumbling thunder and atmospheric backing, creates a moment of genuine storytelling that enhances rather than interrupts the album’s flow.

Quest of the Silmaril is where One of Nine truly flex their compositional muscles. This track weaves together all the elements the band has been developing throughout the album—soaring tremolo melodies, meteoric keyboard arrangements, crushing rhythms, and moments of sublime beauty. The way the band incorporates harp-like keys and flutelike flourishes without ever losing sight of the metal at the core is genuinely impressive.

The closing track Death Wing Black Flame brings the album to a suitably epic conclusion. Opening with spoken word over crashes of thunder, the track builds into a maelstrom of blackened intensity before resolving in a manner that feels both triumphant and foreboding. It is the perfect bookend to an album that has taken listeners on such an expansive journey through Middle-earth’s darker corners.

The influence of bands like Summoning and Stormkeep is certainly present, but One of Nine have carved out their own identity within the Tolkien Black Metal niche. There are hints of Dimmu Borgir‘s theatrical tendencies in the grander momentstoo -They’ve taken their influences and forged something that stands on its own merits – Black Medieval Sorrow