Review by Vladimir on December 11, 2023.

One of the greatest albums within the Serbian metal scene that we got in recent years was without a doubt Tales Of Glory by the epic heavy metal band Oathbringer from Kragujevac. Not only was the album met with overwhelmingly positive reviews back in 2022, but it was also a prized gem that shined the new dawn of the local metal scene. Although the band had gone through various lineup changes in the meantime, they did manage to expand as a five piece, with Milos “Priestkiller” Stošić solely handling the vocals whereas the bass duties have been taken by his Deadly Mosh bandmate Aleksandar “RapidBastard” Milutinović. Aside from their announcement of the new lineup, they also announced their upcoming second full-length album Tales Of Valor, which is due to be released on January 12th in 2024, once again via RTR Records. The second album was teased back when they released their new single 'Hall Of the Slain', which promised that this was going to be an expansion of Tales Of Glory, while also a new entry in the band’s epic saga. Tales Of Glory is still fresh with its magnificent output and it seems that it would be a difficult task or perhaps practically impossible to be topped by any further release. So, what does the upcoming storm bring with the successor that is Tales Of Valor? Please, join me on this journey and let’s find out. 

On first glance, it seems that Oathbringer has taken an even further step with Tales Of Valor, with the approach that not only expands Tales Of Glory, but it actually feels like it reintroduces the band’s general mythos. If I could symbolically describe what this feels like, it would be like Diablo 1 and Diablo 2, where one is an excellent starting point, whereas the other is the sequel that practically erases the original. The musicality remains all around similar to its predecessor, from the epic singing vocals, to the heavy guitar riffs, neoclassical guitar solos, banging drums, but with the addition of more orchestral elements in form of epic choirs, pianos and keyboards that resemble the sound of violins. They even took on an incredible task of introducing some heavier moments in their songs, which is evident on the opening track 'Morgoth' with some epic Bathory-like riffing and even groovy shouting vocals, elevating the band’s sound to a higher level. The fourth track 'Holy War' is yet another example of Oathbringer providing a catchy heavy metal tune, next to 'Alone In The Night' from the previous album, which once again brings in the very elegant and enjoyable musicianship that is in the style of 80’s heavy metal, dominated by its simplistic nature expressed through the riffs and lyrics. There are also some noticeable DIO influences on the sixth track 'Witch’s Hut', which riff-wise is also in the style of 80’s heavy metal, but with elements of Ronnie James Dio vocal style and lyrics. Another strong song that stands out is 'Strike To Kill' which seems to be a Witcher themed song and also another heavy banger that leaves no monster or striga breathing or crawling, only bleeding and rotting. Finally, the closing track 'Dragonmount' is indeed a grand pay off that brings this epic journey to the grand finale and also a strong conclusion with the clean guitar outro that fades this masterpiece to black. The songwriting remains all around faithful to what Oathbringer had previously established with Tales Of Glory, with the great part being that each song manages to stand out on its own for a variety of reasons from the musicianship all the way to some interesting inclusions. Songs are fairly simple to follow along, while the powerful riffs are amped up with the strong vocal performance by Priestkiller and the badass backing vocals which give the songs an even greater “strength of steel”. The great thing about Tales Of Valor is that it keeps the sacred tradition of keeping the tone of the album flowing smoothly with a strong emphasis on stylistic consistency, without any song feeling like it is a surplus, or in this case a filler, that could have been easily left out and disregarded without anyone ever mentioning it. The band has once again hired the incredibly talented artist Velio Josto to craft the cover art for this album, and he had done a great job like he did with Tales Of Glory, although this time with much more added details and perhaps an even richer tone that surpass what was visually represented on the previous album. The sound production is also much heavier and more grandiose in comparison to Tales Of Glory, which also successfully helped other inclusions like the aforementioned choirs and keyboards stand out next to the instrumental work and the leading vocals. 

If Tales Of Glory was all about “sharpened swords, axes and war hammers”, then Tales Of Valor is all about “enchanted greatswords, double-bitted axes and halberds”. This album certainly seemed like a very risky attempt to place Oathbringer on an even bigger pedestal, and one cannot deny that it was an ambitious effort that was not put to waste by any means. Just like Tales Of Glory, this is “all killer no filler”, but in comparison to its predecessor, this is the sequel that beats the original in every way. Yet another great and strong performance by Oathbringer which promised a lot and not only successfully delivered as an album, but also surpassed any expectations that I initially had. If a blacksmith took Tales Of Glory to a grindstone and decided to enhance its performance, the result that you get is Tales Of Valor. The almighty Cimmerian god Crom is pleased once again, and he calls upon all his followers to join him and feast upon the greatness that is Tales Of Valor. 

Rating: 9.4 out of 10

Review by TheOneNeverSeen on March 19, 2024.

When it comes to Polish black metal, I sometimes sadly run into Mgła clones that are trying to match the might of M.'s riffing but fail. The gladder I was to discover Above Aurora, a band that, while clearly being influenced by Mgła, is very creative in terms of its style and uneven in terms of its discography. Their new album with an epic title Myriad Woes certainly matches the level of my personal favorite The Shrine of Deterioration, for each song managed to evoke strong feelings, while the band keeps experimenting with their style – something they were always good at.

The first thing I’d like to note about this release is that, like its predecessor, it offers a curious blend of black and doom metal. While doom is among my least favorite metal subgenres which, despite constantly getting acquainted with new bands in, I still can’t get into, I do appreciate doom elements when they are well used (Paradise Lost’s Medusa, for example) and Above Aurora has mostly been great at that throughout their career (probably aside from the debut release which was largely a hit-and-miss for me with songs quality varying drastically). In their new album they are also good at combining apocalyptic black metal rampage with doom metal pounding monotonousness.

It's hard to say anything general about Myriad Woes because of how diverse it is. While the consistency of The Shrine of Deterioration was hard to match considering every single song on that album was solid and memorable, on their new release the band offers much more creativity, not only making each track stand out, but also constantly disrupting the flow of each song with use of different tempos, harmonies, varying drumming, etc. So, as with everything in life, it’s better to look at the individual parts rather than the general picture.

'Inner Whispers' stands out not only because of its length (which is especially notable considering Above Aurora never had a song this long before), but also because of how many feelings this length allows the band to express within the song. An instrumental track with a sinister intro, unnerving voice samples and... an organ? at 07:00 and 10:00, it is a true symphony of decay that, after a bit 'Your Disposal'-reminiscent buzzy riff plunges you into a flow of anxiety with great blast beats, then takes you out for another repetitive yet not boring riff and then again throws you on the ground consumed by despair like the person on the album cover. I would like to note that, while "slow" drumming on this song and other songs on the album may be monotonous at times, it’s never the "bad" kind of monotonous like on 'Delusional Disorder', but rather the "good" kind of monotonous like on 'Abyssal Hade', with changing patterns, sporadic blast beats and, at one point, greater use of cymbals all aiding to enrich the listening experience.

A track I’d like to contrast 'Inner Whispers' to is the second one, 'Spark'. While shorter and more straight-to-the-point, it nonetheless offers multiple tempos and a great catchy riff matching the level of, say, 'Barren Lore', not to mention the avalanche of sound at 02:11 reminding me of that of the second half of 'Path to Ruin'. The use of sound in the right channel only preceding this blow of energy is particularly notable, as are the immensely beautiful harmonies. While the other three tracks are also solid and memorable with their Mgła-like riffs, I chose to compare the first two to demonstrate the diversity of the record and that the band is equally good at executing a lengthier melancholic song (which it has already showed on, say, 'Virus') and a shorter black metal march.

So, while this album matches its predecessors’ vocals (also inspired by Mgła, although I would say they are angrier than M.’s), black-doomness and overall quality, how does it differ from them? The production is largely different from all other Above Aurora releases. It is much cleaner, which, while sacrificing the crunchy bass that was an important part of 'Barren Lore' and 'Splinters' and is only really notable at one point in 'Horns of Dread' fits the atmosphere of the band’s music much better. While not being overly Polished (get it?), it enhances the album’s engrossing melodies as well as the more uneven drumming. I totally support the change, as, as much as I love The Shrine of Deterioration, its production wouldn’t emphasize the harmonies of this record nearly as well.

Myriad Woes is a great black-doom release, an Above Aurora masterpiece. It shows how much the band gains by being creative and unleashing the might of its music in all forms it can possibly use. A truly memorable release I will definitely come back to.

Rating: 9 out of 10