Boy in the Shadows
Northern Warrior
(Boy in the Shadows)

Break out your black eyeliner, your fishnet shirt, and light up a clove. Boy in the Shadows is a throwback to the darkest of the 80s and 90s goth days and sounds straight from the Bat Cave vaults.

“Die, World, Die” could very well be a Mission or Sisters Of Mercy b-side with a little bit of metal on top, particularly the synth-driven chorus.

“Thy Creator” builds on the mood with its simple but effective lead guitar and chugging rhythm guitars. This is one of the strongest tracks, as is the last track, “Betrayed,” which lurches along and features moody, crooning vocals. The album as a whole is refreshingly heavy and layered, to the point where I assumed it was a full band and not just an anonymous (and quite talented) guy from Sweden playing every instrument himself.

Another favorite is “The Dark Woods of the North” which sounds a little more like Type O Negative, only with nicer guitar tones and thunderous drums. The nostalgia is strong with this one and I have no doubt that back when you could still buy a Christian Death t-shirt at Hot Topic, he would have been included on any one of the 90s Cleopatra Records gothic rock compilation CDs I bought as a teenager. If you’re similarly drawn to Boy in the Shadows in all his darkness, I’m happy to report that he has many more releases on his Bandcamp page, as well as on other streaming services including iTunes and Spotify.