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VALLENFYRE
Splinters

Century Media (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

There are times when nothing beats a stormy slab of British metal. Vallenfyre is a reasonably new doom-laden death metal act born from West Yorkshire back in 2010, and responsible for the 2011 A Fragile King debut.

The quartet features musicians who should know a thing or two about doom-crusted metal; after all, both Gregor Mackintosh (vocals) and Adrian Erlandsson (drums) have plied their trade with Paradise Lost, while guitarist Hamish Hamilton Glencross featured for fellow Brit glumsters My Dying Bride. When one adds Extinction Of Mankind / Hellkrusher member Scoot (bass) to the fold, it’s no real surprise that Splinters is one of the year’s most talked about albums and one that thankfully lives up to the hype.

Firstly, I’ve got to say that if – like me – you grew up swimming through the silted depths of Paradise Lost’s Gothic (1991) or the equally miserable strains of early My Dying Bride, then you’re going to love this foetid tank of sepulchral sediment. This is doom metal that is as bleak as the damp Yorkshire moors, but it’s far from being the usual bore-fest that so many contemporary doom metal bands could be accused of spewing out. Think yawning chasms of aching, festering guitars. Think soot-laced drums of glum aplomb that drip from the walls like black blood. And vocally, just think of decipherable yet chesty growls that mourn our state of mind.

As I’m no fan of mind-numbingly overlong doom metal songs, I am eternally grateful to Vallenfyre for only including two numbers around the seven-minute mark, but the big surprise with this opus comes from the fact that these guys, at times, have more in common with the Swedish death ’n’ roll groove than anything remotely doom. There are some killer, slick riffs on this opus which tend to deviate from the lone path of grief with such majesty that I’m not always comfortable with it – in fact, it’s as if there are two bands at work at times.

When the band kicks off with ‘Scabs’, I’m taken back to the grey wells of sorrow I first heard on Anathema’s All Faith Is Lost demo (1991) and the aforementioned rainy works of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, but seconds later I’m pebble-dashed with a spray of oily riffs which transform these murky Northerners into Scandinavian warriors of froth. This sudden change works perfectly on this opening track though, because the solos still have that mournful quality to worm their way through the upbeat grooves. Vallenfyre return to the monolithic sombreness with ‘Bereft’, which comes complete with slo-mo drum nods and a whining discordance.

My only gripe as I sift through the tracks is the constant nods to the Swedish sound, and I’m often left wondering if such a deviation is necessary for a band who are clearly at equal comfort with those doomier segments. But hey, the mix and match style is one that might appeal to many as it’s such an unpredictable beast. Believe me, after experiencing the yawning chasm that is ‘Bereft’, I did not expect the all-out death metal assault of the snappy ‘Instinct Slaughter’ with its hyper drums. This theme continues throughout as proof that Vallenfyre are aware of their influences and happy to not just wear them, but incorporate them throughout.

Whether this abrasive style of extreme metal sits well with those expecting something a tad more malodorous we’ll have to wait and see, but for what this album lacks in overall direction, it certainly makes up for with its pitch-black punch. Although I’d have preferred a few more of those morose solos and melancholic passages, the bulging riffs and loose cannons of the drums should give every death / doom metaller something to lap up, but those who have heard enough of, say, Hail Of Bullets, Entombed and that style of racket may want to look elsewhere.

Neil Arnold

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