![varathron – walpurgisnacht [re-release]](https://www.vm-underground.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Varathron-Walpurgisnacht-Cover.jpg "Varathron – Walpurgisnacht [Re-Release]")
Info
- Band(s): Varathron
- Label(s): VIC Records
- Release Format(s): CD
- Release Year: 2022
- Review Date: March 12, 2023
- Author(s): Justin Joseph
The realm of Black Metal can often be segmented into different factions, for within its essence one may find a plethora of emotions and ineffable energies, be it the venom exuded from a blasphemous tongue or hymn etched to the rhymes of tyranny…or it may take a completely different turn and may offer a soul the solitude and serenity it has yearned for eons. In my opinion I’ve often found this genre to be one that bears a certain mysticism to its candor, I guess this has always been the crux of its beauty… well to me at least.
But then there’s Varathron, a band that can be considered a titan amongst the Greek pantheon of Black Metal, for its very offerings can be looked upon as the brick and mortar that make up the prominent Hellenic Black Metal sound known today. An attestation that proves this is the album, ‘Walpurgisnacht’.The very manner in which Varathron constructs their offering can be likened to the one who reads upon the hierogram etched onto ancient texts, in other words the unfurling of these sounds carries with it a sacred candor to its invocation, for at times your senses can be so engrossed in its nature that ‘Walpurgisnacht’ feels naught like a musical album but instead it terraforms the atmosphere around the listener embedding you into a potent ritualistic aura, for you no longer an observer, instead you your consciousness is intertwined into its spiraling ceremonial hymns.
Tracks such ‘Cassiopeia’s Ode’ and ‘Under the Sight of Horus’ are morsels from which this entity bestows, and the very delectation that it releases conjures forth an esoteric, yet profound sensation that yearns to be ingested by the mind. The pulchritudinous energy expelled from both the copulation of the strings and percussions evoke a fluid yet aphotic nature to the motion it undergoes, in my opinion, this is representing one of the pinnacles of this album. …being, the musical compositions, there is a sense of mysticism to its patterns, the riffs, the primordial percussions… at times its feels that these were not crafted from human hands, but instead they are but conduits to manifest these rhythms. However, the tongue which utters these sermons, the very spells that unifies these forces becomes the dominant force upon the album. The vocals at times adopts the same orphic patterns as the musical structures, mimicking its frenetic flow, but also branching off into its own cult-like feeling.
‘Walpurgisnacht’ can be expressed like the camphor that is strewn into the pyres as it stokes the flames, for the ravenous essence that is released if that necromantical spirit could be transfigured into sound, it would be this very album. For a wanderer into this genre, and one who may be curious to dive into its depths, this is an album i would very much recommend, for within these notes, these sounds… you will uncover much more than just a ‘Black Metal’ piece, but instead a work of art that entrances the imagination, erecting a vessel for it to explore its vast and wondrous atmosphere.
VIC Records
- Country: Netherlands
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Other
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Youtube
