Review by Adam M on August 22, 2018.

Hooded Menace partake in the type of music that made early Entombed such a riot and do so with great aplomb.  The riffs are devastating and the band brings forth a ton of groove.  They manage to separate themselves with a more diverse sound that constantly changes and avoids the generic death metal templates.  It was quite an interesting experience listening to this album and it shows that the band was having a great deal of fun making the release.  It shows a penchant for writing enjoyable passages and combining them together at will. 

Though the album only contains seven tracks, these tracks are long, meaty and feature a ton of substance to elevate them nicely into the higher portions of the death metal genre.  This diversity of sounds is illustrated nicely in Eerie Deliverance which goes through a number of shifts and changes.  The band defintely ups the variety quotient to make themselves a very worthwhile band.  The Entombed feeling still permeates the songs and adds that signature sound at every turn.  The overall sound of the band has me definitely liking it amongst the highest entries of the year so far, but it is brought down by some chugging slower portions.  If the speed of the band would stay at a fierce rate, they would be absolutely killer. 

As it stands, this is an excellent release of death metal.  It brings the chops, but also manages to switch things up and bring many different flavours into the mix.  It’s this uniqueness that caught my attention and made me grasp the musical thoughts the band put forth.  Those that are fans of Entombed should check Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed out without hesitation as should all others of death metal.  It has the right amount of ferocity mixed with adventurous songwriting in equal measure. 

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Maciek on August 22, 2019.

I've never tried tracking the metal scene in Chile, so wasn't really sure what to expect from this band. Target, according to Encyclopaedia Metallum, was created around 2002 and this is their second full-length album. Just bearing that in mind, the complexity level and technical skills on it is quite impressive. It moves in the area of technical death metal, but there are plenty of other elements that make it an album with almost each track having its own, unique atmosphere. 

The album is just a little longer than 50 minutes, with 3 tracks being instrumental pieces - "Immerse" that is a kind of intro, "Submerged" being an intermission and "Emerge" as an outro. Those pieces are mostly calm and present an opportunity to let your ears rest from the mixture of various metal bits. The closest resemblance is probably Rivers of Nihil, which strike me the most when listening to "Inverted Gloaming" and reaching 2:00 mark. It can be also In Mourning or other death metal bands that have those more peaceful passages with clean guitars and clean vocals, or mixture or growling and clean vocals. During more lively passages you can hear a lot of things - progressive riffs in the style of Pestilence, some complicated rhythmically passages in the style of Meshuggah (similar style of growling/screaming to Jens) and I even heard some similarities to some passages with keyboards that The Gathering had on their "Mandylion" album. So, when it comes to style you can hear all of that plus quite a lot of disharmonies, reminding me of many bands that I recently started listening to - Harms Way or Letters from the Colony for example. The band also likes to create kinds of links between tracks by using slightly similar notes in riffs in two consecutive tracks, like "No Solace Arises" and "Oceangrave", but it only applies to the ending riff of the first one and the beginning riff of the latter. 

Each track shows various influences and almost each shows various skills from each musician. Quite surprising that there are not that many passages exposing Rodrigo Castro's skills of playing on fretless bass. It adds to the reasons why my favourite track on this album is "Surge Drift Motion". I hope that it will be more frequent element that can be heard on future albums. Some of the tracks also have some electronic, ambient elements, but the variety of sounds that these 4 guys can produce using their instruments is stunning. Unfortunately I have no idea who's doing keyboards here, haven't managed to find that info, but also definitely did a good job on them being good addition and not taking over the whole song. And when you look at the album as a whole, all tracks have been put in the order to create an interesting listening experience when you listen to it in one go, with very interesting disharmonies closing "Random Waves" track, just before the outro. 

The only downside of this album, which most probably is my personal view, is that my appetite for catchy riffs or solos is a bit bigger than this album can deliver. That's probably the only area where I'm missing the balance - most of the riffs are good, but they are mostly built on disharmonies, it's not supposed to make you hum or whistle the melodies, it's mostly creating uneasy atmosphere, even calmer passages sound as if you were watching some thriller and knew that they are there to let you know that another blast is coming, with the wall of guitars, drums and Andrés screaming his lungs out. "Inverted Gloaming" and "Surge Drift Motion" are definitely tracks worth checking out if you want to make a decision if it's an album for you. And if you feel like you're up for a challenge, give "Random Waves" a go, also quite strong position on this album in my opinion. 

Generally solid material, with band showing huge potential for becoming quite important player in this subgenre. The production is also very good, no problems with hearing all sounds, no matter if it's some slower passage or blast-beats in "Surge Drift Motion". I know that I keep on repeating that some albums are good when listened to in whole in one go, I know that probably each band releasing an album is aiming for it to be one whole collection of songs that are good to listen to as a set, but this is definitely one of them, mostly because of building-up the atmosphere, increasing the amount of sounds blasting on your eardrums to gradually calm down and give it some rest. Big thumbs up for maintaining that kind of balance. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Fernando on June 25, 2019.

Swedish black metal outfit Valkyrja are an interesting band to talk about for a variety of reasons, primarily how often they’re compared to their fellow Swedes Watain in sound and style. However, while the influence is there, their third album is proof that the band are on the right path to develop their own voice.

The main aspect to note in this album is how the music is a marked departure from the traditional sound and style of Swedish black metal. The band opts for a sound that’s less melodic and complex for a more aggressive and haunting, combining mid pace tracks that build momentum and then explode in a deluge of violence and darkness. The big standouts in this album are tracks like "Madness Redeemer" and "Betrayal Incarnate" where this dark crescendo style is on full display and glory.

However while the style is much more straightforward, most likely in an attempt to quash the Watain comparisons, the band still manage to add solos and riffs that would please any fan of the more melodic-centric side of black metal pioneered by the Swedish forefathers of the style. The guitar work by Simon Wizén while fairly standard for black metal is not devoid of finesse and technical prowess, as mentioned before, the album is not completely devoid of melody, instead of it being the focus its present more as supplement to enhance the music. The other major standout is the drum work by Jocke Walgren of Amon Amarth fame, he displays the mandatory blast beats with great efficiency but is also able to show his more complex side in the bridge sections of songs where the focus is on keeping the initial momentum of the more aggressive side of the music.

All that being said, while the album has the right ingredients and puts the band on track to stop wearing their influences on their sleeves there’s still the elephant in the room and the main reason why they’re constantly compared to Watain: the vocals by former singer Andreas Lind are extremely reminiscent of Erik Danielsson if not nearly identical and this is the biggest detriment to the album as a whole. While it can be partially ignored thanks to the excellent performances by the rest of the band anyone who is familiar with Watain will immediately notice the similarity and it sticks out like a sore thumb. As a whole the album is very good, but the vocals are its biggest flaw and it would take to not think about them to fully enjoy it.

Best tracks: "Madness Reedemer", "Eulogy (Poisoned, Ill and Wounded)", "Treading the Path of the Predator"

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Vanass on April 11, 2020.

Vaar is one of the phenomena in metal with no known history or reason to believe that the project will lead to something as great as this short release. It didn't take more than two seconds to convince me that this is a great album that you have to listen to from the beginning to the end.

The first track 'As Dusk Fell' is simply an explosion of different sensations. What surprised even me as a fan of atmospheric black metal is how fast the riffs are in the beginning. The main riff is simply a beautifully executed piece of melancholic art that develops into something that you could call euphoric or happy. The whole EP has several connections to the post-black metal or blackgaze sound; the major chords and the resulting happy melodies. But the high-quality characteristic of it is that despite the fact that the atmosphere is not openly melancholic, the overall sound is quite cold, which can be attributed to the relatively raw production. The man behind this project has the ability to write incredible riffs that simply feel fresh, although their origin is quite obvious at times.

Another thing that characterizes this release are the acoustic parts. They are kept simple, don't last too long and certainly have a rational place in the structure of the songs. Nevertheless, I would say that they are one of the weaker aspects of this whole release. There is just too much contrast between the fuzzy fast or mid-tempo riffs and the slow acoustic parts, which would actually be quite pleasant if they were all separate tracks. The second track 'Wounded Roots' is a nice example of an acoustic track that fits perfectly into the album as a whole.

The drum sound just suits the music and dictates a perfect tempo for the guitars. Although the main focus is on the guitars, the drums magnify the atmosphere almost perfectly; I can't say that the beats are too complex or have too many variations, instead, they accompany the riffs and deepen the trance caused by the melodies, thus keeping their intended function. The slow and simple drumbeats during the acoustic parts are also very pleasant and improve them considerably.

This album is mainly instrumental, but the vocals on the first track are just amazing; incredibly high, raw and rooted in DSBM. Should the future releases contain more vocal parts, something very interesting could come out of it and certainly intensify the melancholic side of the concept.

The bad thing about this album is that it simply suffers from the same weakness as the majority of atmospheric black metal. The melodies and the atmosphere may be incredibly attractive at the first impression, and when you start to fall into a trance-like state by listening to the same riff over and over again, the songs become quite predictable, and the effect of the atmosphere starts to lose its initial impact. No doubt this album has a lot of replay quality, it is just unique and complex enough to captivate you.

Nevertheless, this is a pretty strong release that has taken me through various emotional states and thrown me into an imaginary forest, and it has definitely fulfilled its purpose as an atmospheric black metal album. It may have its weaker parts, but the overall atmosphere and amazing riffs certainly justify the artistic value of this album. So, I would undoubtedly recommend this album to all fans of atmospheric and post-black metal or anyone who is curious enough.

Therefore I would say that the wisest thing to do would be to stop reading this review and start listening to this piece immediately.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Vanass on April 11, 2020.

Vaar is one of the phenomena in metal with no known history or reason to believe that the project will lead to something as great as this short release. It didn't take more than two seconds to convince me that this is a great album that you have to listen to from the beginning to the end.

The first track 'As Dusk Fell' is simply an explosion of different sensations. What surprised even me as a fan of atmospheric black metal is how fast the riffs are in the beginning. The main riff is simply a beautifully executed piece of melancholic art that develops into something that you could call euphoric or happy. The whole EP has several connections to the post-black metal or blackgaze sound; the major chords and the resulting happy melodies. But the high-quality characteristic of it is that despite the fact that the atmosphere is not openly melancholic, the overall sound is quite cold, which can be attributed to the relatively raw production. The man behind this project has the ability to write incredible riffs that simply feel fresh, although their origin is quite obvious at times.

Another thing that characterizes this release are the acoustic parts. They are kept simple, don't last too long and certainly have a rational place in the structure of the songs. Nevertheless, I would say that they are one of the weaker aspects of this whole release. There is just too much contrast between the fuzzy fast or mid-tempo riffs and the slow acoustic parts, which would actually be quite pleasant if they were all separate tracks. The second track 'Wounded Roots' is a nice example of an acoustic track that fits perfectly into the album as a whole.

The drum sound just suits the music and dictates a perfect tempo for the guitars. Although the main focus is on the guitars, the drums magnify the atmosphere almost perfectly; I can't say that the beats are too complex or have too many variations, instead, they accompany the riffs and deepen the trance caused by the melodies, thus keeping their intended function. The slow and simple drumbeats during the acoustic parts are also very pleasant and improve them considerably.

This album is mainly instrumental, but the vocals on the first track are just amazing; incredibly high, raw and rooted in DSBM. Should the future releases contain more vocal parts, something very interesting could come out of it and certainly intensify the melancholic side of the concept.

The bad thing about this album is that it simply suffers from the same weakness as the majority of atmospheric black metal. The melodies and the atmosphere may be incredibly attractive at the first impression, and when you start to fall into a trance-like state by listening to the same riff over and over again, the songs become quite predictable, and the effect of the atmosphere starts to lose its initial impact. No doubt this album has a lot of replay quality, it is just unique and complex enough to captivate you.

Nevertheless, this is a pretty strong release that has taken me through various emotional states and thrown me into an imaginary forest, and it has definitely fulfilled its purpose as an atmospheric black metal album. It may have its weaker parts, but the overall atmosphere and amazing riffs certainly justify the artistic value of this album. So, I would undoubtedly recommend this album to all fans of atmospheric and post-black metal or anyone who is curious enough.

Therefore I would say that the wisest thing to do would be to stop reading this review and start listening to this piece immediately.

Rating: 8 out of 10