Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2016 21:16:48 GMT -6
Skald in Veum - 1260 Days
Year: 2015
Genre: Black Metal
This EP was arguably the second most anticipated CBM release of 2015 (only beaten by Vials of Wrath's Days Without Names). It was something that I had been looking forward to ever since I first heard a few of the tracks on YouTube back in 2014. It took a while for 1260 Days to release, but it was certainly worth the wait. This is aggressive, crushing, old-school black metal that isn't afraid to slow down from time to time to add some variety in there.
The riffs are pretty basic compared to a lot of other bands, but I wouldn't call them boring. At times they've very memorable; but sometimes they're not. It mostly depends on the track. "Inferno", "Until My Head Rolls", and "Siaren" (which are by far the three best songs on the EP) have awesome riffs despite their simplicity in areas. The other two songs, "Eden Raped" and "Drunk with Tainted Blood" feel sub-par compared to the other three. Like I said, I wouldn't call those two songs boring, but they're certainly not as good. Most of the riffs are fast and tremolo-picked, but in the slow and mid-paced sections of songs, chords and single-note riffs are sometimes introduced. I'm really happy that they threw that variety in there, as it prevents the EP from getting too tiring and monotonous. The guitars overall suit the sound very well and there are few things that I would change. The drums and vocals are absolutely fantastic. There is a lot of blastbeating during the aggressive parts and it sounds great (particularly in "Until My Head Rolls"), but the drummer knows how to accompany the slower parts as well. The vocals are high shrieks that are perfect for this style. The bass occasionally shines through in a bouncy, mid-paced section of some of the songs and it always sounds good too.
Atmosphere is lacking in 1260 Days. "Ravens over Lubenholz" is a decent, forty-four-second ambient intro that creates some atmosphere, but it could have been a lot better. Luckily, this style of black metal doesn't really need any atmosphere in order to be good, so it doesn't matter a whole lot. The only other atmosphere generator that I can think of is the screaming sounds that come in the slow section in the middle of "Inferno". This one is actually effective, and it sounds great. The song is supposed to depict hell, so the screams really add a lot there.
The thing about this EP that really makes it stand out to me is its composition. I've referenced fast, mid-paced, and slow sections throughout this review so far. It really is this variety that makes it so good. There's nothing super original about this, nothing ground-breaking or game-changing; they just took what's been done before and did it well. And I don't really have a problem with that.
This EP has grown on me with time; I like it a lot more now than I did at first. It is likely that it'll continue to grow with more time. Be a little patient with it, and if it's the style of black metal that you like, you won't be disappointed.
92/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy it from SkyBurnsBlack:
skyburnsblack.storenvy.com/products/14804157-skald-in-veum-1260-days
Year: 2015
Genre: Black Metal
This EP was arguably the second most anticipated CBM release of 2015 (only beaten by Vials of Wrath's Days Without Names). It was something that I had been looking forward to ever since I first heard a few of the tracks on YouTube back in 2014. It took a while for 1260 Days to release, but it was certainly worth the wait. This is aggressive, crushing, old-school black metal that isn't afraid to slow down from time to time to add some variety in there.
The riffs are pretty basic compared to a lot of other bands, but I wouldn't call them boring. At times they've very memorable; but sometimes they're not. It mostly depends on the track. "Inferno", "Until My Head Rolls", and "Siaren" (which are by far the three best songs on the EP) have awesome riffs despite their simplicity in areas. The other two songs, "Eden Raped" and "Drunk with Tainted Blood" feel sub-par compared to the other three. Like I said, I wouldn't call those two songs boring, but they're certainly not as good. Most of the riffs are fast and tremolo-picked, but in the slow and mid-paced sections of songs, chords and single-note riffs are sometimes introduced. I'm really happy that they threw that variety in there, as it prevents the EP from getting too tiring and monotonous. The guitars overall suit the sound very well and there are few things that I would change. The drums and vocals are absolutely fantastic. There is a lot of blastbeating during the aggressive parts and it sounds great (particularly in "Until My Head Rolls"), but the drummer knows how to accompany the slower parts as well. The vocals are high shrieks that are perfect for this style. The bass occasionally shines through in a bouncy, mid-paced section of some of the songs and it always sounds good too.
Atmosphere is lacking in 1260 Days. "Ravens over Lubenholz" is a decent, forty-four-second ambient intro that creates some atmosphere, but it could have been a lot better. Luckily, this style of black metal doesn't really need any atmosphere in order to be good, so it doesn't matter a whole lot. The only other atmosphere generator that I can think of is the screaming sounds that come in the slow section in the middle of "Inferno". This one is actually effective, and it sounds great. The song is supposed to depict hell, so the screams really add a lot there.
The thing about this EP that really makes it stand out to me is its composition. I've referenced fast, mid-paced, and slow sections throughout this review so far. It really is this variety that makes it so good. There's nothing super original about this, nothing ground-breaking or game-changing; they just took what's been done before and did it well. And I don't really have a problem with that.
This EP has grown on me with time; I like it a lot more now than I did at first. It is likely that it'll continue to grow with more time. Be a little patient with it, and if it's the style of black metal that you like, you won't be disappointed.
92/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Buy it from SkyBurnsBlack:
skyburnsblack.storenvy.com/products/14804157-skald-in-veum-1260-days