ALBUM REVIEW: Vreid – Lifehunger

Here I review the new album of Black Metallers VREID! Out tomorrow on Season Of Mist Records. This is sure to be some gorgeous and atmospheric stuff!

1. Flowers & Blood begins with crystalline synths and stunning acoustic guitars, setting the folky and bleak melody beautifully. The piece of music is instantaneously gorgeous while melancholy there is a feel of rebirth to it, bringing new life to the band with this album. I think it works really well as an introduction.
2. One Hundred Years kicks off the main core of the album with some bleak and huge sounding riffs, the ice cold Norwegian Black Metal sound is there from the off, making me feel very at home. The screams top layers of beautifully orchestrated guitar riffs, folky ambient leads and killer blast beat drums. The black n roll sound the band are known for soon ensues but with a nice progressive nature to the music, it is not as primal as bands like Carpathian Forest. There is so much epic atmospheric work used that it really creates such an impressive soundscape. The guitar solo is really soulful and melodic over the thrashy rhythm sections, soaring nicely while not getting in the way of the songs momentum, but rather complementing it nicely! There is some balance with dissonance but nothing that kills the pretty vibe of the song. The clean vocal sections are phenomenal and they have a nice Caladon Brood feel to them. Acoustic guitars nicely bring in the finish of the piece and it felt like a journey on its own, let alone as part of a whole album! The final bout of huge atmospherics leads the song out beautifully. Absolutely excellent piece!
3. Lifehunger chugs into existence with fuzzy guitar and bass, built in drums increasing the songs strength and impact nicely. The melodic riffs are absolutely epic with a really old school Finnish melodeath feel to them (like Kalmah and Norther etc). There is a bleak yet transcendentally beautiful and intricate feel to the songwriting that is carefully woven and coated in these full on atmospheric ambushes before descending back to the creeping and more technically impressive riffs. Together they work beautifully with the precise hammering and blasting of the drums and emotionally screamed/howled vocals. Everything feels like there was tons of energy both physical and emotion put into it with a really clean cut mix that allows everything to flow beautifully. Another gorgeous track with some nice headbang worthy riffs! Damn impressive songwriting and musicianship too!
4. The Dead White opens with some wicked drums in true old school fashion, an epic intro for sure. The stunning and widely diverse guitar riffs are so wonderful, they have a fantastic sense of melody which has been consistent and such a strong sense of atmosphere while playing some breakneck grooves. The drums are perfectly punctuating of every single guitar and bass part with some really grisly and icy vocals taking the foreground. The convulsive riffs in the earlier have break the more chugging pace up nicely which was cool and unexpected. This is some really tight material with such a unique feel to it, nothing about it feels recycled. The lead guitars in the mid section work in a really complementing manner with the bass guitar to create this gorgeous and rich, mellow melody. The thrashing groove of the song is absolutely killer. The acoustic guitars once again come back to add some gorgeous and sombre flourishes to the piece of music and acting as a great interval to regrow the brilliant momentum from. Some gorgeous lyric writing is certainly present too! Fantastic work!
5. Hello Darkness follows on with more supremely vibrant acoustic guitars that are joined by some nice creepy leads and drums. There is more of an eerie vibe present on this track that has a really cool, groovy feeling to it. The haunting clean vocals over simply strummed guitars has a nice Mercyful Fate sound to me, the song may not be as heavy or punchy as the others but is a really cool and creative addition to the album adding some excellent diversity and showing a wider range of influence and skill. This song was really cool and I did not expect it at all, a fantastically unpredictable piece with an ending that somewhat reminded me of Lifelover. Addi from Solstafir is a friend of mine and really adds something special to this song, I had a great night with him (see my Solstafir gig review) and I have always been impressed by his unique voice, great stuff!
6. Black Rites In The Black Nights has some nice military drums, solid bass and bleak guitars creating a nice haunting and ghostly atmosphere that rapidly grows into some excellent Black Metal. The waves of melodious and crystal clear harmonies really sound huge with the intricate blast beats and killer riffs. The guitar leads are beautifully played and soulful while not being too distracting from the other instrumentals. This song is much more aggressive with an almost breakdown feel to some of the riffs giving it a really cool and unique kick that is not often heard like this in Black Metal. This song simply and purely cascades darkness with such musical consistency, gorgeous! The band really have some amazing talents and this song, like all the other showcase that beautifully. There is an epic marching feel to this song that is really awe inspiring.
7. Sokrates Must Die opens with gorgeously traditional Black Metal riffs and cascading leads with thunderous bass and epic drumming. The whole feel of the song is more 90s that their other stuff so far but it has that epic Carpathian Forest and Taake vibe to it that I just love. This is some ruthless and unrelenting Black Metal that is totally assaulting yet very melodic and intricate all the same. The breakneck head banging that the rhythm inspires is almost unresistable. Some absolutely epic, menacing and groovy material right here with a tight bass solo and some epically mental guitar work!
8. Heimatt closes this epic album, beginning with ambience and a gorgeous feeling to it, not unlike how it first came to life with the introduction. This album up until now has felt like a journey, so even more importantly the release needs to have some really excellent closure, like a great movie needing a killer ending. The lead guitars, smooth bass and slow drums feel like a really nice yet sombre funeral march that grow into depressively melancholic yet hugely atmospheric riffs then drop back to the slow grind once more. There is something really heart wrenching about the combination of sounds that totally does this final piece justice. There is a slight resemblance to the soundscapes Woods Of Desolation create, which I certainly intend as a complement. I think this track is a fine way to slowly draw out this album that has had so much life and energy, it does the final role gracefully for sure. There are still plenty of nice fast and aggressive parts that have plenty of bite to them but the song has a more ambient and depressing feel to it overall with hauntingly dark and bleak, reverb / delay soaked guitars. The lead work is concisely brilliant and everything comes together beautifully for one last round of glorious Black Metal! A great final track for a fantastic album!

This is some of the most gorgeously, pristine Black Metal with some primal aggression that is complemented by intellectual songwriting, huge atmospherics and some folk influence. Some of the most purely Norwegian sounding Black Metal I have heard since the last MORK record. A diversely and emotion album with brilliant complexity and so much appealing songwriting. An excellent release! -9/10