Panopticon is a one-man black metal project out of Louisville, Kentucky. Multi-instrumentalist Austin Lunn is the man behind the music and prefers to remain in the shadows while his art does the talking for him. And speak it does… in volumes. Panopticon’s fourth album, 2012’s Kentucky, is probably the most groundbreaking and important black metal album that America has ever produced. The album’s deft fusion of Appalachian folk music to traditional black metal is both jarring and breathtaking.

Never one to rely upon black metal’s tired Satanic cliches, Lunn describes Panopticon as “Anarcho Pagan Black Metal.” However, recent releases have seen him veering away from politics toward a more introspective and contemplative point of view. The most recent Panopticon record, Roads to the North, continues to expand upon this subject matter.

Here from Roads to the North is the stunning track “Where Mountains Pierce The Sky.”