First off- Love that cover- I want that on a giant print or t-shirt.

Second, Valdur has quickly released their 6th album, barely a year after their last effort, Divine Cessation, came out. How’s that for production?

Third, the band appears to have swung the pendulum ever so slightly back towards their black metal roots from the pure, noisy atonal death metal murk of Divine Cessation.

While the cavernous vocals are still here, the guitars appear to be not as down-tuned and there are more shrill, tremolo-picked ish riffs rather than pure dirty lurches and rumbles. Sure there are some, but its much more of a black/death balanced record than the predecessor. Just listen to opener “Divine Halls of Obscurity pt.I” or disturbing experimental instrumental ish number “Spiritual Exhaust (The Beyond)”. Heck, the riffs from “Inhale the Floodgates Open” could be from Ulver’s notorious second record.

Also, like its predecessor, the album is 6 songs and about a 37 minute run time. So its a very brisk, brittle, but spiteful little record. These prolific Californians (metal archives lists 17 releases since 2015) have have hit a nasty, noisy niche since 2015s Pathetic Scum, but I’m curious if the band can continue being so productive and vicious without a drop off in quality.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments