Blackbraid: Native American Black Metal Project Expands Its Cultural Arc with ‘Blackbraid III’

The third full-length album from the solo black metal project helmed by Native American musician Sgah’gahsowáh (Jon Krieger), titled ‘Blackbraid III,’ is scheduled for release on August 8, 2025. Issued under the name Blackbraid, the project has traced a steadily intensifying trajectory since its 2022 debut and its rapid 2023 follow-up. The forthcoming release continues to develop its engagement with indigenous identity, spiritual resistance, and environmental grief—anchored within the atmospheric and aggressive parameters of black metal.

The album’s first single, ‘Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of My Death,’ premiered in May alongside a self-directed video. Pre-orders for the album opened concurrently, with multiple formats available through Blackbraid’s official store. A full public listening session is scheduled for July during the Fire in the Mountains Festival in Wyoming, an event located on Blackfeet ancestral land and consistent with the artist’s ongoing emphasis on cultural rootedness.

Recorded once again in collaboration with Neil Schneider, who handled engineering and production duties, ‘Blackbraid III’ includes ten tracks, among them a cover of ‘Fleshbound’ by the Swedish band Lord Belial. Visual elements for the release combine original artwork by Adam Burke and design by Adrian Baxter, both of whom contributed to the project’s prior albums. This consistent team reinforces Blackbraid’s commitment to independently controlled, artist-led releases that reflect both personal vision and cultural intent.

‘Blackbraid III’: A Self-Made Continuity in Form and Collaboration

Slated for release on August 8, 2025, ‘Blackbraid III’ will feature ten tracks, continuing a working structure that has defined the project since its inception. Among the new material is a reinterpretation of ‘Fleshbound,’ originally recorded by the Swedish band Lord Belial—an inclusion that suggests a bridging of influences between European melodic black metal and the distinct cultural framework of Blackbraid’s indigenous-centered vision.

The album’s technical realization once again rests with Neil Schneider, who has handled recording, mixing, and mastering across all three albums. This consistent production partnership reinforces the project’s closed creative loop: no label, no outside producers, and no session musicians beyond this established formation. Schneider’s involvement has been instrumental in shaping Blackbraid’s sonic identity—marked by dense layering, mid-tempo pacing, and a textural clarity uncommon in self-released black metal.

Visual continuity has also been preserved. The cover art was painted by Adam Burke, whose signature blend of surreal landscapes and natural grandeur has become closely associated with Blackbraid’s public image. Adrian Baxter, who previously contributed illustration and design work for ‘Blackbraid I’ and ‘Blackbraid II,’ returns for layout and typography, maintaining visual coherence across the trilogy. Together, Burke and Baxter offer an aesthetic complement to the music’s atmospheric intensity, grounding the release in visual iconography that avoids genre cliché while still echoing its affective tone.

‘Blackbraid II’: Escalation Without Industry Mediation

Released on July 7, 2023, ‘Blackbraid II’ arrived less than a year after its predecessor yet extended the project’s scale, production values, and musical reach. Self-released and independently distributed, the album spanned over an hour, doubling the runtime of the 2022 debut. It introduced more complex arrangements, additional interludes, and broader instrumentation, signaling an expansion in ambition while preserving the project’s independence from label infrastructure.

The album’s structure was divided into nine tracks, including multi-part compositions such as ‘Moss Covered Bones on the Altar of the Moon,’ which exceeded thirteen minutes and blended acoustic sequences, tremolo-heavy riffing, and layered vocal passages. These compositional choices pushed the project toward a more atmospheric and narrative-driven form, allowing for moments of reprieve between segments of traditional black metal aggression.

‘Blackbraid II’ remained grounded in themes of indigenous identity, ancestral grief, and ecological reverence. Unlike projects that draw abstractly from nature or mythology, the album articulated a direct connection between spiritual loss and historical violence, with track titles such as ‘The Spirit Returns’ and ‘A Song of Death on Winds of Dawn’ reinforcing a personal and cultural mourning. These motifs were carried further by the visual and typographic design handled by Wolf Mountain Productions whose woodcut-style illustration evoked both ritual and ruin.

Despite its extended runtime and esoteric themes, ‘Blackbraid II’ was received with near-unanimous acclaim within underground and independent music circles. Coverage from Decibel, Revolver, and Metal Injection consistently emphasized its capacity to operate outside industry structures while commanding a substantial and engaged following. The album debuted high on Bandcamp’s genre charts, and its vinyl pressings sold out in pre-order phases—outcomes achieved without traditional label backing, PR campaigns, or commercial radio.

In retrospect, ‘Blackbraid II’ did not simply follow a successful debut; it redefined expectations for what an indigenous solo black metal project could accomplish on its own terms. By eschewing intermediaries while expanding its artistic scope, the album laid a durable foundation for ‘Blackbraid III’—not as a reinvention, but as a next chapter in an unfolding sequence of self-authored declarations.

‘Blackbraid I’: A Self-Declared Origin Rooted in Place and Memory

Released on August 26, 2022, ‘Blackbraid I’ introduced the project without fanfare or affiliation, emerging from the forests of New York’s Adirondack Mountains as a self-recorded, self-released black metal album informed by indigenous ancestry and environmental witness. Created entirely by Sgah’gahsowáh, with engineering by Neil Schneider, the album presented six tracks that balanced second-wave black metal traditions with atmospheric interludes and instrumentation drawn from Native American culture.

The recording’s structure alternated between densely layered aggression and contemplative pauses, such as the instrumental ‘As the Creek Flows Softly By,’ which featured traditional flute and field recordings. These sonic contrasts framed the album’s lyrical themes—colonial violence, ancestral loss, and reverence for nature—without relying on metaphor or fantasy. ‘Barefoot Ghost Dance on Blood Soaked Soil,’ one of its most widely discussed tracks, engaged directly with the historical trauma of genocide and forced assimilation, anchoring the album in lived cultural memory rather than speculative mythology.

Visual presentation, curated in part through the use of historical photography by Edward S. Curtis and illustration by Adrian Baxter, reinforced the album’s engagement with indigenous identity. The choice of cover imagery—a Native warrior in profile—signaled not a general invocation of “nature” or “spirit,” but a deliberate reclamation of cultural visibility within a genre that often romanticizes the past while ignoring historical specificity.

Despite—or perhaps because of—its independence from label infrastructure, ‘Blackbraid I’ gained rapid attention through Bandcamp and social media circulation. It reached No. 1 on the platform’s metal chart and was widely praised across underground press, including Decibel, BrooklynVegan, and Invisible Oranges. Its release was not preceded by extensive promotion or formal singles; instead, it spread via word-of-mouth, interviews, and the novelty—rare in black metal—of a Native American artist articulating identity without stylization or external mediation.

As a debut, ‘Blackbraid I’ established the project’s narrative approach, its compositional priorities, and its capacity to command attention without endorsement from institutional gatekeepers. It served as both an introduction and a rupture: an entry point into black metal that simultaneously rejected genre orthodoxy and asserted a distinct cultural authorship. Its impact laid the groundwork for the more expansive ‘Blackbraid II’ and the forthcoming ‘Blackbraid III,’ which continue to build upon the creative and political tensions first declared in this self-released origin.

‘Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of My Death’: Lead Single

The first track made available from ‘Blackbraid III’ was ‘Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of My Death,’ released in late May 2025 through official streaming platforms and Bandcamp. Accompanied by a self-directed video, the single preserved the project’s hallmark blend of raw aggression and melodic detail, while incorporating expanded percussion and layered vocal production. The video’s imagery—natural landscapes intercut with solitary performance sequences—echoed the thematic concerns of previous releases without resorting to theatrical stylization.

Simultaneously, pre-orders for the album were launched through Blackbraid’s official store. Physical formats include multiple vinyl variants, CD editions, and bundled merchandise, all distributed without label involvement. This strategy reflects the project’s ongoing commitment to direct-to-audience engagement, which has allowed it to maintain full creative control while building a substantial international following.

The release approach remains measured and self-contained, bypassing traditional music industry PR infrastructure in favor of targeted announcements through the artist’s own platforms. No interviews or press exclusives were issued at the time of the single’s release. Instead, the rollout continues the precedent set by ‘Blackbraid I’ and ‘Blackbraid II’: minimal intermediaries, maximal control, and steady audience response. As with earlier releases, early vinyl variants sold out within days, reinforcing the project’s unusually strong demand-to-supply ratio across underground metal retail channels.

Thematic Continuity and Expansion

‘Blackbraid III’ maintains the project’s foundational emphasis on spiritual mourning, resistance to colonial erasure, and reverence for land as both presence and memory. Across its ten tracks, the album draws from indigenous cultural history not as symbolism, but as a living framework for expression. While black metal has often adopted natural imagery as atmosphere or abstraction, Blackbraid’s treatment of land and heritage remains grounded in direct experience and cultural specificity.

The new material extends compositional and thematic motifs introduced in the first two albums—particularly the interplay between solitary reflection and ancestral invocation. Flute passages, acoustic layering, and environmental field recordings continue to punctuate heavier segments, but the arrangements suggest greater complexity and broader structural pacing. The presence of a cover song—Lord Belial’s ‘Fleshbound’—further illustrates an outward gesture, linking the project to melodic black metal influences while reframing them within Blackbraid’s distinct narrative voice.

Lyrics again foreground histories of violence, cycles of grief, and cosmological alignment with nature, though the delivery remains restrained and textural rather than overtly narrative. As in previous works, the songs do not unfold in linear storytelling fashion but instead evoke states of being—resistance, isolation, renewal—through sonic repetition and tonal contrast. In this way, ‘Blackbraid III’ reinforces the project’s evolving aesthetic: one that privileges immersion over statement, and remembrance over spectacle.

Live Debut and Public Listening Event

Ahead of its official release, ‘Blackbraid III’ will receive a full public listening debut during the 2025 edition of Fire in the Mountains, a three-day open-air festival held in Wyoming from July 25 to 27. The event’s location on Blackfeet ancestral land in the Absaroka Mountains lends the premiere added significance, aligning with Blackbraid’s consistent emphasis on indigenous place-based identity. Though the artist has participated in previous editions of the festival, this marks the first time a full album will be previewed in its entirety in such a setting.

Fire in the Mountains, known for its integration of outdoor performance and wilderness immersion, presents a context that complements rather than abstracts the themes present in Blackbraid’s work. Rather than a commercial launch or media showcase, the album’s first listening is structured as a community experience, with attendees invited to hear the record in an environment reflective of the artist’s creative intent. This approach avoids conventional publicity metrics in favor of spatial and cultural resonance, reinforcing the project’s ongoing preference for audience connection over algorithmic reach.

Following the listening session, Blackbraid is expected to perform a live set featuring selections from the new record alongside material from ‘Blackbraid I’ and ‘Blackbaid II.’ As with previous performances, no additional musicians or backing band have been announced, suggesting the continuation of a minimal live configuration. The artist’s participation in Fire in the Mountains positions ‘Blackbraid III’ not as an isolated studio work, but as part of an ongoing dialogue between recorded output, land-based heritage, and the live black metal circuit.

Cultural Position and Reception Expectations

With the release of ‘Blackbraid III,’ the project enters a critical moment not only in its own discography but within the broader discourse surrounding contemporary black metal. Blackbraid’s emergence has coincided with increasing scrutiny over the genre’s historical affiliations and its Eurocentric cultural framing. Rather than adopting a confrontational stance, the project has reframed these narratives by foregrounding indigenous sovereignty, environmental urgency, and the spiritual residue of colonial trauma—using black metal’s sonic extremity as a vessel rather than a destination.

The reception of ‘Blackbraid I’ and ‘Blackbraid II’ across independent press, fan communities, and festival circuits has affirmed the project’s resonance well beyond niche genre circles. Outlets including Rolling Stone, Decibel, and Metal Injection have consistently highlighted Blackbraid not only for its musical execution but for its redefinition of what black metal can embody. That recognition, achieved without label backing or external promotion, has placed the project in a unique position: both embedded within the tradition and structurally independent from it.

Expectations for ‘Blackbraid III’ are shaped by that paradox. As the project scales in visibility and influence, it continues to resist conventional industry mechanisms, relying instead on limited physical releases, festival appearances, and carefully timed direct communications. This controlled visibility allows Blackbraid to operate outside trends while remaining responsive to its audience. As anticipation builds ahead of the album’s release, the project’s cultural positioning—grounded in authorship, not appropriation—remains one of its most defining attributes.

Conclusion

‘Blackbraid III’ arrives not as a departure from its predecessors, but as a deliberate continuation of a self-authored path. Across three full-length releases, the project has maintained full control over its creative, technical, and distributional processes, while steadily expanding its musical vocabulary and public reach. There is no label apparatus behind the rollout, no touring entourage, and no aesthetic recalibration in response to market trends. Instead, the album reflects a cumulative effort—drawing from the structural precision of ‘Blackbraid II’ and the declarative clarity of ‘Blackbraid I,’ while pushing toward a broader thematic and compositional scale.

In doing so, Sgah’gahsowáh continues to occupy a rare position in contemporary extreme metal: not only as an indigenous artist asserting cultural memory through a genre long removed from that lineage, but as a working example of independent sustainability in a music economy still dominated by intermediaries. With Blackbraid III, that position is neither exceptionalized nor diluted. It is sustained, on the project’s own terms, with continuity as its guiding method and authorship as its organizing principle.