Darvulia – L’Alliance Des Venins
I can’t stop listening to this record. This is my first exposure to this French Black Metal entity, but they have additional release under their bullet belts. There is such a purity of emotion to the playing and the dynamics of the writing that I was immediately sucked into this. This two man project stitches bursts of raw speed, droning dirges and wonderfully dissonant melodies together into a sickly beast of passionate song writing. There are moments of fury, moments of despair, moments of isolation and claustrophobia. It just all flows so well and never sacrifices the whole for forced sentiment or an inappropriate riff. They use a lot of discordant chords and warped structures, but they use them tactfully and don’t exaggerate it or take the songs places they would go unnaturally. The dreary moments of the record remain firmly Black Metal sounding and don’t lapse into Doom or Dark Metal territories. The vocals come in the form of a scraped and snarled scream and stay well placed in the mix, never over powering or distracting, they are just another element in the din. The drums have an organic natural tone to them that works as a great backbone to the strong but ragged guitar tone. It has a primal feeling throughout but is well produced enough that the production quality isn’t an issue. I feel like I haven’t quite done this record justice here, but suffice to say it is a fantastic release that will have me seeking out the bands other work. Incensed melancholy, wonderfully executed. – Scott
BATTLESK’RS PROD
Worm Gear 