Resonance - Unverkalt - Via Doloris
- Sparky
- 7 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Unverkalt – Héréditaire 9/10
Hailing from Athens, Greece and Berlin Unverkalt have been creating original experimental music since their creation in 2017. From their L'origine du monde, through to their follow up A Lump of Death: A Chaos of Dead Lovers, the promise of excellence has grown closer with each release. Their potential has been realized on Héréditaire, their darkest, heaviest album. It is also incredibly passionate and personal, a descent that traces back to humanity’s darkest origins.
As vital as one’s own heartbeat Oath ov Prometheus is blinding with its proficiency and intensity, this is modern music that is as undefinable as it is essential. From the traumatic Die Auslöschung ( The extinction) the music swells and attacks in a myriad of ways that is dynamic and haunting, Dimitra Kalavrezou’s vocals go from the introspective and delicate to the ferocious and unrepentant with ease, musically the intensity is tempered by melody and some subtle moments that can be only described as avant garde yet all essential parts of an album that moves with such purpose and definition. Ænæ Lithi with its restraint and textures offers a depth that along with A Lullaby for the Descent create an atmosphere that is as all-encompassing as it is expansive, the cinematic elements riddled with glorious post metal tremolos and swirling dynamics. Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ) appearance on the simply huge “I, The Deceit” accentuates a moment of utter size and strength that comes with price of awareness.
Bold and creative, powerful yet fragile, carrying the scars of trauma, suffering, and remembrance, Unverkalt have created an essential vital and visceral offering that haunts and lingers long after with an echo of its stunning musicianship and demanding vocal patterns. Executed brilliantly and with such passion Héréditaire is simply superb.
VIA DOLORIS - Guerre et Paix 8.5/10
Tracing the ascent from inner collapse toward fragile self‑awareness and the tension between endurance and surrender is Via Doliris, disciplined, atmospheric black metal. The art is reflected through their debut Guerre et Paix.
From slow ascents to structured descents into perilous chaos. Guerre et Paix is an album that is so well thought out and executed reflecting the experience of Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and creator Gildas Le Pape (Satyricon). Assisted by the percussive efforts of Frost (Satyricon, 1349) it is a performance that grounds this album in the authenticity of the real. There is no need for hyperbole or histrionics, the assault is genuine its mindset so expansive that is delivered in three languages (French, English, and Norwegian). It is confrontational like its subject matter stripped of excess, this is raw extremity, an emotional release where there is no clear victory just survival and endurance. Haunted by the echo of the past the ritual is accentuated by some pagan folk elements to complete a whole all consuming body of work highlighted by the trial of “Ultime Tourment its riff matched by a warlike march and the duality of Visdommens Vei I and its haunting coda Visdommens Vei II.
The uncompromising direction of Guerre et Paix is it strength, a singular vision and work of art that is meticulous in its creation and delivery. It is also pure black metal in ethos and mindset, its most haunting and harrowing dealing with the pragmatic and the search for purpose and the weight we all carry, a revelation in honesty and commitment. Excellent
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