Review by SzejkElRopa on February 10, 2026.

Polish Varnheim is one of many bands that I have recently discovered. Their newest album, "Void", is a solid piece of black metal that stands out for its gripping atmosphere, powerful vocals, and much more.

It comes as no surprise that Varnheim paints a nihilistic, depressing atmosphere, reflected both in the music and the lyrics. The pattern for all four songs in this album is rather simple; once in a while, they slow down only to hit you hard with aggressive tremolo picking riffs and powerful vocals done by Patryk Włódarczyk. The melodies are very memorable, for example, in the opener, 'Vengeance'. Of course, it is not only the case in this particular song, but these can also be found throughout the whole album. Coming back to the pattern mentioned before, the slower, maybe mid-tempo moments are those that contribute the most to the atmosphere; they even help you "drown" in that void. The more I listened to this album, the more I found myself "drowning", to be honest. The peak moment of it was when the hypnotizing melody in 'Downwards' was playing. Another moment that I found worth mentioning in that song was the speech of Robert Oppenheimer. I was quite perplexed when I heard it once again. Small thing, but as it is said, the devil dwells in the details. Overall, the void that Varnheim mentioned in the album title, in fact, exists.

If anyone had read my reviews before, they would have known that I adore the idea of guitar solos in black metal. In this album, these can also be found in 'Onwards' and 'Inwards'. To be honest, taking the depressing atmosphere into account, I wouldn't imagine making any for it. Nevertheless, Varnheim managed to sneak these perfectly. They never become overly melodic, and that's the huge plus of the album. The riffs are similar to each other in style, but each one is different. They are not anything that will change the history of metal, but they are of very good quality for sure. As said before, the melody and tempo changes, which is by no means boring. Sometimes we hear pick slides, sometimes tremolo picking, and sometimes more melodic guitar playing.

As for vocals, these might be a bit monotonous, with one exception at the end of 'Inwards', when the words are spoken, and in 'Downwards', when, at one point, vocals echo. Nonetheless, they are high-quality, and to be honest, I can't imagine shrieks fitting the kind of music Varnheim plays. Drums are pretty sophisticated, which is not heard on the first listen. I am not a drummer, but I believe the whole drum kit seems to have been put to good use on this album. Lyrically, two songs are in English and two in Polish. As a Polish native speaker, these Polish ones might have been inspired by Mgła, because in 'Inwards' there are terms from Greek mythology, and the first verse of 'Downwards' is a bit of the Bible inversion, as in "Exercises In Futility V", though Mgła's version used English lyrics. Despite that and opinions that Varnheim is a clone of Mgła, it doesn't change my perspective of this album.

To sum up, Varnheim's third full-length is a very enjoyable modern black metal album that carries great atmosphere, good instrumental playing, and is worth listening to. If you enjoy long black metal songs, these four, ranging from 9 to 14 minutes, are for you.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10