And here we go again! 5th album so far this year and it would appear his 13th so far, unlucky for some maybe but there’s no stopping the ever prolific Sicilian Vardan at his quest for misanthropic world domination. His last few have impressed me no end so I found myself eager to give this one a play and see what was in store this time around even if it is (meant to be) summer and we were already heralding its demise here with a walk through frosty Winter Woods. Seems like the muse is really working overtime here too as for once we don’t just get the 5 numbers included in simple numerological order but they actually have (shock) titles to go with them too. Well that’s almost the case as the first couple are Winter Woods parts one and two.
I fair jumped out my skin pressing play first time around as the very first note is shrill and piercing and the production here is suitably shrill and frosty. With snares slowly crunching like sleigh bells cutting through ice and a slow ponderous melody everything is bolstered by the frigid guitar work and the ever screeching necrotic vocals. Suddenly everything drops out for a gorgeous cold acoustic part and this is as ever drenched in atmosphere making it all the more compelling. Naturally it all comes crunching back in with a wretched scream that could literally peel paint of the walls and the plodding beat gets its claws back in to you all over again. The Burzumic repetitive nature is something that Vardan always seems to get spot on and this album is no exception to that particular rule as we move into the second part of this hypothermic journey. There’s a bit of a shoegazing aspect to the opening guitar fronds as they spread with a cold numbness about them and an air of complete and utter isolation and dejection at their heart. There’s more than a touch of early The Cure about this and it almost sets you up for an acoustic instrumental track before cadaverous yells spew out and other instruments join in and plod fortuitously over this frozen, barren soundscape. There’s nothing in the way of life here, nature is dead and mankind has not touched this snowbound canvas although the parting image of Jack Torrance frozen in place at the end of The Shining seems impressed on my memory as I listen to this abruptly end.
‘Uroborus Black Circle’ is jagged and much more upbeat by comparison and the feel that someone is jubilantly overlooking their frigid kingdom and revelling in it comes across here. It’s still very mid tempo to slow pace wise but the melody is nowhere near as gloomy and there is a lot more urgency in the vocals. Cold Night of My Soul is back to a slow and monotonous beat but it is one that is somewhat heartfelt and lush and you can really feel a sense of yearning within it. Some sharp and jagged fretwork really peels off the layers and the melody is both sorrowful and gorgeous a bit like the touch of death itself. This is not the longest album running to just 34 minutes but it packs plenty of emotion into it. Finishing with ‘The Cry Of Dying Forests’ an air of utter desolation and wretchedness is exuded along with some rather strange vocal croaks in the acoustic parts of the track. A sudden rush to the end is perfect too and the adrenaline burst finishes the album off in real style. Listening to this now on an overcast supposedly summers day it feels like it is practically stopping the sun from getting through the dense clouds and I wouldn’t be 100% surprised if it started to snow. When it does get colder and this excuse for a warm patch pisses off this is going to definitely be hitting my playlist again.
Before I even got the chance to publish this his next album Between The Fog And Shadows arrived. It’s gonna be a cold one!
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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