Style: Progressive metal, post-black metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Myrkur, Messa, The Ocean
Country: USA (Colorado)
Release date: 11 September 2026

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Over time, many bands grow too comfortable with their own sound and descend into self-parody. Content to rely on their tried-and-tested formula, they become a bundle of songwriting tropes held together by the same old riffs and melodies, solos, and lyrics. Sometimes as a reviewer it feels impossible to write six hundred words about an album when four would suffice: ‘more of the same.’ Which means it’s always a pleasure to cover a band who seem consistently compelled to evolve into more unique and unusual forms. 

Which brings us to Dreadnought. Originally rooted in a doomier style with occasional sax and flute breaks, the Colorado veterans’ 2022 album The Endless cemented the band’s slow evolution to a post-black metal foundation, ringfenced by folk influences within progressive song structures—that might sound like a combo you’ve heard before, but nobody does it quite like Dreadnought. Their sixth album, Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light, sees the group continue down this path, infusing more electronica elements and, as part of a slimmed down lineup, adding male vocals, harsh and clean, from guitarist Ryan Sims as a foil to frontwoman Kelly Schilling. Conceptually centred around a war for the human soul by technology, heavy synth textures and digitised sounds bring to life a digital dystopia (which is obviously completely fanciful and doesn’t at all resemble the emergent techno-fascist nightmare we all live in¹!)

Opener “Tiamat’s Gate” gives a good taste of the album in microcosm as Schilling’s haunting, girlish keen boomerangs into the song with devastating lamentation. Ritualistic drumming and ominous whooshing ambience dress the track in a nightmarish tint, and it isn’t long before the affair explodes into blast beats and abrasive riffing as Sims and Schilling trade growls and banshee wails. As the cacophony ebbs, the song veers into a cathartic outro with prominent piano and strings as well as Dreadnought’s trademark shimmering chimes. Such is the energy of Wars // Wards throughout. “The Archive” sees the band delve into a darker energy with screams aplenty, a rough beast of a bassline, and ethereal melodies. The concept clarifies here, as robotic voiceover and gothic ambiences evoke the algorithmic dystopian setting of the record, and reaches its apex on “Aeonwar” which is suffused by a stranglehold of electronica and digitised noise as buzzing voices and computerised sounds infect the very substrate of the song like some dread harbinger of digital apocalypse. By the time we reach defiant closer “The Twilight Protectorate”, the electronica elements have completed their chokehold, with swirling keyboard solos and Tangerine Dream-esque synth arpeggios cavorting through the track.

Wars // Wards relies heavily on cinematic ambiences and diegetic sound, and these accoutrements sound impeccable thanks to four Finnish ears: a pristine mix from Julius Mauranen (Oranssi Pazuzu) and the deft mastering of Jaakko Viitalähde (Havukruunu). Dreadnought’s dynamic soundscape is brought to life by various textural ideas that break through the post-black metal framing—psychedelic breaks, solo piano and vocal pieces, and even a drum & bass backbeat on “Serpents of the Moon”. The whooshing ambiences and shimmering chimes that have come to define the band’s sound are as present as ever, but we also hear from computerised voices, whispers panning in the background of songs, and electronic sound effects. In the wrong hands, these additions could be distractingly amateurish or cliched, but they fortunately fit seamlessly into the world-building of Wars // Wards, an impressive feat of sound design that cements Dreadnought’s central conceit with aplomb.

And therein lies the key to Dreadnought’s success on album number six; much like The Endless before it, it’s the holistic album experience that makes Wars // Wards so enjoyable—the sense that this is a continuous journey held together by compositional cohesion many a band should envy. It’s testament to Dreadnought’s continuing creative growth that in the relatively brief forty minutes of Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light, an entire sonic world is created—an inhabitable aural space to escape into.

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Recommended tracks: Tiamat’s Gate, The Archive, Aeonwar
You may also like: -ii-, Feversea, Scimitar
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Vesperian

Dreadnought is:
– Jordan Clancy (drums, percussion)
– Kevin Handlon (bass)
– Kelly Schilling (vocals, guitars, keys, synth)
– Ryan Sims (vocals, guitars)

1. You’re all very lucky I didn’t go for the “contextualising the album within our current moment” angle for this review, but I will plug Gil Durán’s excellent new book The Nerd Reich in case anyone wants to read about the growing madness of Silicon Valley over the last few years. ↩︎