Valgrind - Blackest Horizon (EN)
Band: Valgrind (I)
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Everlasting Spew
Records
Albumtitle: Blackest Horizon
Duration: 44:27
Released
ate: 25.05.2018
Well, Valgrind was original founded in 1993 but broke up in 2003
just to reunion in 2008. Since then the longplayers "Morning Will
Come No More" (2012), "Speech Of The Flame" (2016) as well as the EP
"Seal Of Phobos" (2017) have been released.
You've got to
hand it to Valdgrind. They definitely sound different than normal
Death Metal bands.
Of course the base is true Old School Death
but Valgrind offers a variety of dark melodies that drift a bit off
towards Melodic Death. Just listen to "Third And Last" because here
such melodies get together in one song with short solos like Morbid
Angel and real banging. It sounds quite fancy.
The
guitarists play often short sequences of notes besides the typical
and permanent fast riffs. One can hear it in "Sacrifical Journey".
It also reminds of Morbid Angel or Nocturnus. Especially the
keyboard parts, which are not integrated in the song directly but
rather occur in the beginning or in the end of the song, indicate
the latter comparison. A sinister atmosphere arises in this way and
it echoes through the whole album.
The drums hammer through both
Blastbeasts and D-Beat paired with solemn passages. It sounds a bit
muffled but contributes the dark overall mood. And whenever
consistently great growls join awesome melodies like in "The Empire
Burns". it slightly stirs a headbanger's blood.
Above all
the whole thing doesn't sound arbitrary but rather send a chill down
the listener's spine. It is not too easy to listen to. And when "The
Blackest Horizon" bores nastily through the ears, one sometimes
doesn't know if the whole thing is good or not. However, everybody
can play nice! The last three songs have all the same name but don't
get musically out of hand and likely they are linked by the lyrics.
Conclusion:
In some way it is an awesome horrible album.
It is like one cannot look away while watching a horror movie, you
cannot stop listening here. Maybe the goal of the Band has been
achieved. It is not a every day album but you can listen to it every
now and then.
Rating: 7,5/10
Recommendation: The
Empire Burns
01. Victorious
02. Sunken Temple Of Initiated
03. Third And
Last
04. The Blackest Horizon
05. Sacrifical Journey
06.
The Empire Burns
07. The Fist
08. Last Angel (Into The
Unknown)
09. Last Angel (The Psychonaut)
10. Last Angel (Hades
Horseman)
Daniele Lupidi - Vocals, Bass
Massimiliano Elia - Guitars
Umberto Poncina - Guitars
Gianmarco Agosti - Drums
- Download Review in German
- Download Review in English
Author: Possessed
Translator: Dine