Review: Vassal State – The Withering Wreath

Review by Sandre the Giant Released: 21st March 2026 The debut demo/EP from Swedish atmospheric black metal newcomers Vassal State, ‘The Withering Wreath’, is out now and features David Nilsson of death metallers Feral on vocals. Now, you’d think that would be an interesting choice for an atmospheric black metal band, but Vassal State don’t really follow a huge amount of the genre’s most obvious tropes, so I think that should work out well. ‘The Withering Wreath’ is out now via Bandcamp. Ghostly piano circling a grim guitar riff is a perfect scene setter as ‘Forlorn Wanderer’ opens this EP, an almost uplifting tone coming as somewhat of a surprise balanced by Nilsson’s snarl. Vassal State have a very rich and layered sound, grand and almost orchestral in places with more focus on the keyboards than you’d expect. The guitar riffs are very nice, but they are pushed quite far back in the mix of the title track, allowing the keys to breathe fully but losing a bit of the heaviness. That…