VARDAN
Verses From Ancient Times
Moribund (2015)
Rating: 7.5/10
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Bloody hell, it seems like only five minutes ago I was reviewing Vardan’s 2014 effort Enjoy Of Deep Sadness which for all of its haunting cacophony fell well short of being one of the year’s finest black metal releases.
And so we come to another entry into the rather impressive discography of this Italian wizard of sorrow. The press release has this new opus down as being the 22nd from multi-instrumentalist Mr Vardan, although I only knew of about eight previous to this, but maybe I’ve just lost count within this mightily prolific force of nature. In fact, this guy is so productive that in 2014 he churned out three full-length releases, so goodness knows just how many more he’s going to spew out in 2015… but I’ll try to take one release at a time.
Verses From Ancient Times offers up four epic tunes; no surprise that they appear as ‘I’, ‘II’, ‘III’ and ‘IV’, and it’s also no shock that once again we’re treated to that same sturdy, and at times infectious yet abysmal strain of the grim. Vardan has mastered the art of making his music sound as if it’s been constructed in some well-hidden lair where the guitars have since been coated in layers of dust and his own vocal chords have been laced by cob-webs and other “things” of the night. It’s standard black metal I guess, but black metal very much in that primitive frame of mind where the tracks fluctuate between faster passages of despair and slower, menacing slabs of grey grit.
Of course, because the songs are so long (the longest clocks in at over 11 minutes) Vardan has enough room for manoeuvre, casting his net far and wide and dredging up all those finest ingredients which make raw black metal so intimidating and yet accessible. We get those blazing bursts of abrasive speed which complement his vocal barks perfectly, and within these ashen mires we can find some archetype black metal melodies – ‘II’ showcases that thorny vocal scratch mixed with pacier abysmal gleams supplied by that racing barbed guitar and tinny drum haste.
But with this sort of stuff I’ve always preferred the menace of slowness and there are some excellent moments on this opus where grim and melody come together to form an impenetrable barrier of melancholic traditional black metal groove. My favourite examples are four minutes into the opening track where the drum kicks in like a truly malevolent monster trudging through the wastes, while on ‘III’ the initial gust of evil makes way for a majestic trudge of echoing ambience and again trundling percussion. Indeed, of all the tracks ‘III’ – although short at under six minutes – seems to offer so much more, and just emanates the true Gothic yet primal splendour we’ve become accustomed to with traditional black metal.
While there are a few predictable moments with Vardan’s latest foray, I enjoyed the record immensely and see it as a major improvement on his previous bout of glumness. Vardan will always be that grief-stricken individual who is able to transfer his emotions to record, but this time round I appreciate them more.
Neil Arnold
