By John Bedard
Well, I have been gone for a while, so I had high hopes for the first album I would receive when I came back. When ‘Nil’ landed in my email I was not disappointed. It is one hell of an album to get back into the swing of things with. Aggressive yet grounded, every track keeps your attention…
While very clearly grounded in black metal and leaning heavily to that side, I can see why they call it Black’n’Roll as there are definitely rock elements throughout the album. This makes for a unique flair that is not often heard. The tone is very much metal but as the drums slow down at times good old school rock progressions cut through but still with the same tonal flavour as we have in the heavier sections. This adds a wonderful progression and evolution to the tracks that tell a story. It sucks you in and has a sense of urgency that kinda makes me feel motivated. Kinda like the music in ‘Doom Eternal’, some of the heavier segments in a few tracks reminded me a little of the music in that game and gave me that push forward feeling you get. That contrasts the more rock segments I mentioned earlier, wonderfully adding a nice back and forth.
Vocally, things swing even more to the black metal side of the spectrum than I mentioned above. You have that extremely aggressive and distorted vocal that you expect. It is brutal and complements the music perfectly at times syncing up with the heavier parts or adding an interesting and enjoyable contract to the more rock segments. These sometimes conflicting and complementing elements really tie everything together and aid in that earlier mentioned storytelling. Every track feels like you are going somewhere or making some kind of project. Truly an enjoyable experience that is worth your time.
I know it is no secret that I go on and on about evolution and storytelling in albums. These are the things that I look for in any work of art. Music has a particular way of driving emotions and making you feel things that you might not otherwise be feeling. Just like with a good movie where you have that satisfying feeling of having been on the journey with the characters, Vyrion achieves that same feeling for me with ‘Nil’. Every track has a very clear beginning middle and end that all work together to give me that satisfying feeling of having witnessed a good story. I do believe this is worth your time. It is an experience for sure and one worth having.
- ‘Nil’ is released on 26 October. You can get your copy HERE.
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.