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VARDAN
Enjoy Of Deep Sadness

Moribund (2014)
Rating: 6.5/10

Enjoy Of Deep Sadness is the sixth sullen release from black metal musician Vardan. Daubed in corpse-paint and dark clothing, this Italian depressive has been plying his sombre trade since 1997, and this three-track affair is another instalment of grisly woe.

Think stark, pensive guitars mixed with sprawling, icy drums and an archetypal black metal sneer, and you’ll have a good idea of what this commendable effort is like. Yep, there are millions of artists providing similar acts of the grim to us fans and there’s nothing remarkable about Vardan’s latest journey into the pits of gloom, but if you like your black metal miserable, raw and slow then opening track ‘A Broken Existence’ should delight / depress those among you with a fetish for all things bleak and dreary.

That opening tune is very much a doom-laden expression where melancholic guitars lead us through the thorny grey pathways on the back of a primitive, aching drum plod. Vardan isn’t, and thankfully so, as suicidal in his scratchy words as some vocalists within this shadowy realm. Believe it or not, it’s actually uplifting, or should I say rewarding, to hear something more dense yet leisurelier amidst the usual barrage of scathing riffs and same-sounding satanic frenzy.

What I think is worth mentioning with Vardan is just how prolific this individual is. In 2013 he released three albums and this year alone (I’m writing this as of July 2014) he’s released a brace of records, with Enjoy Of Deep Sadness following on from The Woods Is My Coffin. I get the impression that Enjoy Of Deep Sadness is not the last we’ll hear from this man, but as it stands, this is a half-decent platter.

The effort begins with the morosely-lined ‘A Broken Existence’, an 11-minute dream-like expanse of drizzly guitars and melancholic melodies which hide the obscure nature of the vocal sneers. It never gathers pace as a track, but then again, this is largely forlorn music bathed in sadness and despair, which is reflected in Vardan’s distant yelps.

And there’s rarely a variation as the title track lumbers in as a mere rusty drip from a tap. The drum is a slowing heartbeat of angst as a guitar despondently whines its last breath, and the dejected snarls of Vardan litter the soundscape. Infinitely more eerie than the opening track, ‘Enjoy Of Deep Sadness’ has a rainy, gothic quality about it with its sparse nature, but there is an air of drama about this clammy gospel of sadness.

I can take or leave this type of black metal glumness although Vardan has managed to keep me not necessarily entertained, but enchanted by his ponderous rhythms and doleful gleams. Yes, it can be hard going when one considers that the album runs for over half-an-hour. Any detractor would no doubt be praying for some type of respite from the downcast aches and pains of this, but Vardan has no intentions of sprucing things up, and we should know that. And while I still, at times, have trouble coming to terms with those orc-like burps and yaps amidst the dampness of the music, Enjoy Of Deep Sadness does live up to its title but without draining the listener of life.

The final track is the distorted hue of ‘An Abstract Voice’, which is another haunting cacophony of sorrowful drums and aching guitars, and it’s no surprise at all that for its 12 or so minute duration, it never meanders from its grief-stricken path. As Vardan emits his final wails that echo off into the Sicilian night though, I’m not bored or moved by this piece of music. In spite of its low-spirited atmosphere, I have reason to believe that not all is lost in the world of this mysterious musician.

Neil Arnold

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