Review by Felix on October 3, 2023.

Uh, this kind of “production” almost hurts. You think that Bathory’s “The Return……” suffered from a very differentiated sound? Then welcome to “The True Metal”. Obviously recorded in a musty mausoleum, the guitars send greeting from hell and the unnatural voice presents a mix of distortion and reverb in order to sound as evil as possible. Maybe this description makes you fear the worst, but surprise – while later Power from Hell outputs fall victim to their own cataclysmic mix, just think of “Sadismo” and “Spellbondage”, the debut from 2004 scores with a non-professional, but inherently conclusive sound. The output celebrates its material extremely raw and merciless. I needed three minutes to get used to it, that’s right, but then I understood its inner strength and I deny to call it bad.

M-A tells us that this work is a full-length, but come on, this must be a joke. I am talking about less than 22 minutes music if I ignore the pretty ridiculous “mumbling demon” intro and the boring Motörhead covers. (Power from hell are not able to play songs of other formations. The powerless Judas Priest cover on their EP from 2017 confirms this fact.) But lo and behold, the seven songs between these two fillers, equipped with lovely names like “Prostitute of Satan” or (my favourite) “F**k You the Heaven” (pardon?) do not lack primitive power and effective aggression. The young Quorthon (R.I.P.) would have loved this kind of minimalist riffs that the band anthem and the title track present. These songs go straight forward and sometimes the guitars swallow the drums, but the Brazilians always find the right balance between control and chaos. Every now and then, they even integrate a gloomy undertone, for example at the beginning of the song about this strange satanic whore. But the main thing is that they obviously know how to write a strong, expressive riff. Their approach is absolutely reduced to the essentials, but sometimes I wish, more bands would focus on the basics. This belongs, last but not least, even to the guys of Power from Hell themselves, considering their somewhat lukewarm last album “Shadows Devouring Light”.

“Bestial Times” is another great and highly original title, but it exactly describes what the record delivers. “The True Metal” is the raw 20th anniversary tribute to Bathory’s debut and its guitar work is extremely similar to the one of the Swedish legend, but Power from Hell do not appear as uninspired copycats. All seven regular songs are full of power, speed and ugliness. Their debut is just pure bloodlust and the more I think about it, the more I like the name of the output. I do not say that metal must sound as underground as f**k, but here its raw core comes to life in a pretty exciting manner. Therefore, I recommend this manifest of primitive violence to every fan of bands such as Dream Theatre, Sieges Even or Fates Warning, at least if they are tortured by masochistic thoughts. “The True Metal” will give their crude visions new fodder.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Emma on April 7, 2009.

Of the hordes of bands that BlackMetal.com has put out, Valdur is not the worst I’ve heard. But they certainly don’t make the mark in this split with neighboring California band Lightning Swords Of Death.

Valdur sound can be described as basic recorded-in-your-basement, Black Metal. No further description needed. The musicianship is good. I give props to their drummer Lord Sxuperion, because 70% of the split is blast beats. Valdur has its moments with some riffs and slight vocal variation in ‘Blodhevn/Vendetta’ But someone needs to remind them that as wonderful as the sound of blast beats are, they need to be balanced with some variation and bridges to be fully appreciated. I want to move the track time with my cursor and be able to tell the difference between 0:34 and 5:27. I would make an exception if there were some truly awesome riffs that soared, but this isn’t the case here. The one song that saved me from completely writing off Valdur was ‘Spears Torrent’ for its nice acoustic bit.

If you are one to like a general ‘hum’ that requires no listening commitment on low volume, add Valdur to your shopping list.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:5
Atmosphere:5
Production:4
Originality:2
Overall:4.5

Rating: 4.1 out of 10