Phantom Divine was conceived in 2019 as a Symphonic Metal Writing project by Kory Torgerson (guitars) in Alberta, Canada. After some time, this project moved onto a collaboration with a songwriter in Finland, known simply as Elvann. From this collaboration, the single “River of Dreams” came into being.

Spring forward to April of 2020, and Kory decided to make Phantom Divine into a fully realized band. Reaching out to his fellow bandmate Shane Richardson in Bladewolf to play bass, he soon recruited the help of Naomi Weston (vocals) in June of 2020, and Danial Devost (drums), a year later in June of 2021. With some shifting over the pandemic, Naomi parted ways with Phantom Divine, leading the way for McKenna Rae (Solborn, Revelry) to join them soon after.

August 2021 saw the release of their debut album, ‘The Cosmic Vision’ with the single, “River of Dreams” having been released shortly beforehand, accompanied by a music video. This started the itch that drove the band to move forward on follow up material, presenting the newly released single, “The Wraith of the Lake” on April 22nd, 2022.

This track begins on a Nightwish vibe, with delicate orchestrations leading us down a candlelit path to somewhere much darker. The melody picks up along with the beat to give us a taste of the cinematic-level impact this song is meant to have. McKenna’s voice is absolutely stunning along the instrumental of this song, her balanced highs and strong mid allow her to explore the true range of her own abilities with ease. Guitars on this track are strong, perfectly timed as not to take away from the overall majesty that this track has in its fantasy-like aura, while drums and bass are steadfast on the journey forward.

At just over 7-minutes in length, this song is a beautiful example of inspiration being utilized to fuel progression, with a skillful blend of orchestration and Metal fusing to make Fantasy into reality. McKenna’s operatic solo just beyond the 4-minute mark is awe-inspiring, carrying into a guitar solo that isn’t too ambitious but, well-crafted to match the song’s ambiance in its tune. There is a great deal of care in this song to make sure everything stays fluid, and that everything has its moment in the sun but, is not carried too far off track. Epic highs, sorrowful lows, and a vividly painted journey are tastefully executed by this young and aspiring band, and I simply cannot wait to hear more.

You can find more from Phantom Divine via their Bandcamp – here