Review by criscool623 on March 20, 2021.

Shoegaze was (and in a certain way continues being) a totally unknown term for me; when I approached to this band, I was mainly looking forward to listening to a kind of atmospheric or doom-influenced black metal release, similar to bands like Trist, Burzum, Nargaroth or those atmospheric bands. When I finally checked it out, I was pleased, as the album had accomplished my expectations, but let's get into matters little by little.

Leave No Path To Follow arrived as a fresh blow of air to my life. It's the kind of release that I needed. After looking for some material approached more to the vein of a slow and doom-like black metal (and more because of the continuous listening to thrash metal stuff that was starting to bore me), Krigsgrav arrived with all of those aspects and more. This is a pleasure, as I needed this kind of relaxing and hypnotic kind of music that invites the listener to calm down and let himself take in the music. Really, this is not an album that seeks to be brutal or aggressive (I think nobody approaches this kind of band in hopes of listening to that, though), but it pretends to be an aural voyage to the most relaxed state of yourself. It sounds poetic (or ridiculous), but it's the feeling this album transmits to me: peace, tranquillity and relaxation (maybe in a not-very-orthodox manner, but there's always a cup of tea for everyone).

And that leads me to another strong aspect of the album: the songs. Most of them surpass the duration of 7 minutes and most of them are repetitive and minimalist, but being an album influenced by doom metal, this aspect is valid and an advantage for those who seek long, but relaxing songs; it's an aspect that would be suitable for fans of albums like "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" or "Jahreszeiten" in terms of duration, but with that strength that characterises doom metal. Additionally, the instrumentation and the production help these songs have a powerful sound, even when it's not the main intention of the music. It's a wall of sound that pierce your ears owing to the thick and prominent sound of the bass in the mix (primordial in this kind o releases, to my eyes). These elements make the music an even more immersive experience.

The voice is decent. It's not outstanding, but it works. It's kind of reminiscent of Immortal's vocal style; not so violent, but harsh enough to be considered black metal. However, some timid hues in the form of death metal growls can be heard in certain parts of the music, which are a good addition.

The elements used are very economic and limited: tremolo picking, some punctual melodies that are continuously repeated and heavy riffs are the main dish of the album. Nevertheless (and retaking what I said at the first paragraph of this review), something that called my attention were the little clean guitar-based arpeggio sections hidden in some parts; as I told, shoegaze goes on being a new term for me, but I like to think that these sections in particular are characteristics of this shoegaze style; I'm not totally sure of this, but I wanted to mention how good was this aspect, which add a plus to the music.

Despite the marvel that I think this album is, I found some details I wanted to mention (but which are not bad enough to demerit the awesomeness of the rest of it).

Well, I found it hilarious that a specific riff taken from 'The Withering', is EXACTLY THE SAME RIFF that I've listened to in 4 sounds taking into account this one (more specifically, at the minute 7:32). The original song (or the oldest that I know, as to this point I wouldn't be surprised if I find out it's a rip-off as well) that contains this riff is "Acid Rain" by D.R.I., but I'm pretty sure you better know it by being the main riff of "The Pursuit of Viking" of Amon Amarth; time later, I discovered that the song "Gloryhammer" of the band with the same name included the same riff in their song, and when I heard the same riff in this release, I simply screamed with laughter; I found risible the times the same riff has been used in metal songs.

Also, there's a melody that I found too repetitive during the song, and it's that one from 'Strength Through Wounding'. I think it would have been better if that melody just was heard in certain moments and not in EVERY SECOND of the track. Who knows, maybe you find it pleasant, but it's something I needed to point out.

To finally conclude, Leave No Path To Follow is an immersive experience. If you like doom and black metal, you like this kind of black metal more oriented to the atmospheric aesthetic or if you simply want to listen to a dark record without neglecting the production, THIS is your album. I'm fortunate enough for having been able to get one of the 100 copies of its digipack edition, but it can be found in several streaming platforms, so you don't have an excuse for not giving it an opportunity.

I forgot to mention the great decision that was putting the Katatonia cover at the end of the album. Don't miss it.

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by Vanass on April 4, 2020.

Krigsgrav is an incredible black-doom band from Texas. Although their earlier work was true black metal, this release culminated in the vein of classic death-doom acts like Katatonia or Paradise Lost, interspersed with a bunch of post-metal melodies, in their most successful release ever, surpassing everything they had done before that release.

The artwork Luciana Nedelea did for this album is just beautiful and immediately threw me into the setting and atmosphere before I even had a chance to hear the first track. If the manifestation of doom metal had a material form, this album cover would certainly not be far from its look.

Although I'm not a big fan of intro tracks, the short instrumental track 'Leave No Path To Follow' is quite tolerable and seems like a prophecy of the coming slow tempo melodies and the gloomy, melancholic atmosphere. After the pains of tolerating the intro are over, we are exposed to the sheer power of the guitar sound. Each song is perfectly structured, whereby the sequence of melodies and their intended emotional value resembles more a fable than a collection of decent riffs. The basic melodic parts are mainly characterized by their simplicity; it's just incredible how much two simple notes can contribute to the atmosphere, and the second track 'Strength Through Wounding' is a perfect example of how this structure is applied. You can't say that the main riffs don't have a doomy vibe, but one should still classify them as post-black metal. Some of the melodies and the "heavy" parts are just too memorable and with their unique structure, I could compare them to waves that hit the listener again and again. All in all, the band's guitarist, Justin Coleman, has proven that he has an incredible riff-writing ability, and the absurd amount of incredible material he has written cannot be described in its entirety.

Since this is an openly guitar-based band, I didn't necessarily expect an absolute mastery of drums, which is true for most parts of this release. Nevertheless, David Sikora, the drummer of the band, did a pretty decent job, taking advantage of the slow tempo with some very interesting ideas in the middle tempo sections. Overall the drums are strongly influenced by black metal and are played in a slower tempo, which makes them perfectly fitting to the atmosphere and sound dictated by the guitars.

The bass, on the other hand, is something I really enjoyed throughout the whole album. The basslines may be in the background, but they are still good enough to give the slow riffs the quality, sound incredibly heavy and occasionally lead to some headbanger tracks like 'The End'.

Justin may not be the best vocalist in extreme metal, but the repertoire of his raw, high-pitched screams, very much in the old, classic black metal style of the early nineties, and some deeper growls from the death-doom side of this release simply fit too well into the atmosphere of this album. There are even some clean vocals that are absorbed by the atmosphere, which is surprisingly pleasant and definitely suitable for fans of the newer stuff from Paradise Lost, although Krigsgrav doesn't use it as extensively.

The cover of Katatonia's 'Brave' is the ending that this album needed. Mikael Akerfeldt's vocals are something that can't simply be recreated perfectly, but Justin's vocals gave this extremely well-done cover a certain Krigsgrav quality that fits the sound that makes this album so special.

I have been lucky enough to discover a number of incredible new bands lately, and with Krigsgrav the list is getting a bit longer. This album is a very sophisticated bundle of beautiful, melancholic melodies, followed by some post-metal highlights that reverse the darker parts in certain places. The atmosphere is not constant, but evolves from riff to riff and takes you on a journey of auditory sensations, which are carried to extremes by the high art of metal music.

Lastly, there is nothing else to say except that this is a nearly perfect release from an extremely underrated band. Therefore, I ask you to do a good thing for yourself and the society around you and start listening to this album.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Alex on November 5, 2018.

For a debut outing this isn’t bad at all, and to be fair, I’ve never been disappointed by a Finnish metal band apart from a mainstream one for releasing that abominable 2015 record. Thus said Ratbreed deliver the good tunes on here from start to end.

With Evoke the Blaze, Ratbreed brings a mixture of melodies and tempo changes all the while rocking fun guitar solos. The songs have a very empowering feeling to them from the first track to the last, you get the sense you can overcome any obstacle confronted by in life. Yes, it does have a progressive feeling too, thanks to the vocalist’s voice that helps to evoke a confident state of mind and an optimistic perspective. However there are some songs that deal with pessimistic thoughts and feelings of regressive behavior. ”Decay of the Mind” is the best song on the record and encapsulates this negative feeling I am speaking of, but the way it is structured gives the listener a feeling of fighting back or trying to repel the negativity. I admire this blend of pessimism and optimism on the record. It’s not all fantasy driven or ‘devour and conquer’ as usually portrayed in traditional heavy metal; no, Ratbreed uses various tempo changes and riff patterns to highlight other unseen factors that many encounter. 

Evoke the Blaze has an aplomb flow; Ratbreed does not fall victim of adding too much, they keep things simple and sensible. As you progress further towards the end of the record you start to realize that the A side is much stronger than the B side. Tracks are more memorable and catchy on the A side, not saying the B side isn’t good; the are fewer songs that stand out in the listeners ear, in comparison to side A. For instance on “Through the Flames”, the guitarist gives his best solo of the album that feels more in tune with the primary rhythm of the song and even brings to light a bit of technical skill; mixing such attributes often lead to memorability. Though various tones and moods are present on the record, as a whole Evoke the Blaze possesses a comforting and controlled feeling, perhaps this has come to be due to the pacing of the music, which mostly lies within the middle range. The vocalist does sound aggressive but not to the excessively rowdy point of negatively impacting her vocals. You can still hear the harmony in her voice even though the passion is very much audible. 

All together Evoke the Blaze is a fun listening experience. Also Ratbreed’s cover of Warlock’s “I Rule the Ruins” is a fantastic and well executed attempt at paying homage to one of the legendary traditional heavy metal bands; I’m sure Warlock would feel exalted once having heard it. Ratbreed took the song and nurtured it as if their own.

Favorites:

Review by Nathan on January 8, 2023.

Vastum’s genre is hard to pin down succinctly: it’s death metal, sure, but it’s also slow death metal that’s not quite slow enough to be considered death/doom. Vastum doesn’t ever go really fast, but they also rarely drop things to a funeral doom-esque crawl, instead focusing on the oft-neglected, trudging builds and transitions that usually serve as the break between intense and overwhelming riffs, but rarely make up the meat. Vastum has made a career out of carving a niche in their “slow death metal that isn’t death/doom levels of slow but still pretty slow” hole, and Orificial Purge doesn’t expand on that template at all, instead content to refine the contents of what’s there. It’s sometimes surprising that the band can hold your interest for so long with such consistently middling writing, but Vastum is good at getting a lot with a little and using the space between riffs to their advantage.

To put it another way, Vastum is the auditory equivalent of sexual frustration. Patricidal Lust explored the concept and atmosphere with much more focus, but Orificial Purge remains within the same formula. Each riff is an agonizing crawl that doesn’t please you fully, but has enough of a lick in it that it makes you hope the next riff will finally satisfy you in the way you’re craving, but that riff only ends up doing the exact same thing to you. I can’t think of a better way to musically symbolize a 30-year-old incel dude that just sits in his basement cranking the fuck out of his meat most evenings. There’s a bit of careless self-indulgence and reckless abandon in the riffs, but it’s stifled by the slow drudgery of everything going on. You can jerk off as many times as you want to the weirdest porn your loins desire, it’s still going to leave you with residual feelings of guilt and shame. The mixture of hints of pleasure in the melodic licks and slithering grooves with the predominant base of blueballing and frustration that Orifical Purge provides makes it much more engaging than the sum of its parts might have you think upon first listen. Vastum isn’t a very flashy band and they don’t really hook you in the first time you hear them, but once their album is done you can’t help but acknowledge that the songwriting makes even the mediocre riffs stand out a bit. It’s a bit of a grower, greater than the sum of its parts.

This band has some pretty big namedrop value in an incestuous California scene. Connections to Acephalix, Necrot and Hammers of Misfortune exist between multiple members – I’m not sure if this is Leila Abdul-Rauf’s main band, or a side-project/supergroup thingy. As a result you can guarantee that there’s more songwriting prowess than usual for an otherwise relatively unproven band. Perhaps that’s why Vastum can stand out and has some replay value being adjacent to a frequently snooze-inducing death/doom genre. They’ve still got a bit longer to go before they can be considered forerunners of their genre, but Orifical Purge does make noticeable strides in subtly creating a more immersive sound and I also note a bit more detail in the riffing. This didn’t quite have AOTY-level impacts on me, but it’s very well done for what it is and I’d be the first one to rec Vastum to someone who wants something that sounds close enough to death/doom without having long boring parts. Orificial Purge is a bit hard to get into, but it’s worth the struggle.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on July 18, 2022.

These Californians have been around since the very beginning of the 2010s, unbeknownst to my feeble mind, at least up until the release of their latest installment, 2019's Orificial Purge. I was intrigued by the trippy album art when I first encountered this record, as well as being released on the great 20 Buck Spin label, so I gave it a spin and wasn't let down but also wasn't blown away too much.

Vastum is pretty straightforward, and the riffs are fairly simple and have been done before. There's only a handful of riffs on this album that I would say are truly unique enough to be their own, while the vast majority of them are just rehashes of things we've all heard before. Still… they felt new and likeable when released in this package, complete with a nasty production, great vocals and a good, but not great sense of songwriting.

The opening two tracks are perhaps my favorite of the bunch, showcasing the best vocal work as well as the most headbang worthy riffs. I was particularly impressed by how understandable the lyrics are, especially coming from death metal where all the lyrics just sound like gibberish. This made the listening experience a little more unique and fun to get into. Overall, though, the riffs feel pulled from your typical culprits; Incantation… Bolt Thrower… Autopsy… maybe a little Cannibal Corpse. Nothing you haven't heard a thousand times before, yet, Vastum doesn't come across as repetitive.

Orificial Purge is a respectable slab of death metal that doesn't do anything excellent, perhaps except the vocals, but they don't do anything wrong either. It's heavy, it's gritty, it's got a decent amount of energy and… it's old school death metal. And if you're hooked on this shit like I am, Vastum definitely is a good fix to get doped out on every now and then. I'll go back and give their earlier albums a listen in the future for sure.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Alex on October 8, 2019.

How so sudden urges arise picking at the weakness of the biological; 6 more tracks laced in the sap of patricide, incest, lust and shame among many more transgressions here to satiate the itch. By the tongue that condemns, while the hands play in sinful discharge, Vastum reopens the damaged Hole Below for yet another intoxicating session of putrefaction and pleasure. Scrape clean the rust from the gates of maliciousness, crack open its welcoming stretch and penetrate its simulating, yet all the while venomous vulva, take a deep breath in honor of dignity before plunging deep into the pleasures of pacifism and puke uncontrollably before the wails of Orificial Purge. Vastum's bed is one of adultery, forbidden fantasies, suppression and ruthlessness, yet bodies climb into their luring sheets despite the multiple warnings; many a sin committed since being under their custodial carelessness directed by Carnal Law and yet amidst the flashing photographs of bondage and butchery, a sinister smile forms within the cheeks. Though misused till the anatomy has misshapen to that of a rag-doll, the comfort of sleeping amidst the nauseating stench of dried menstrual fluid and ejaculate has become an obscene obsession.

From the womb of death metal pelts Vastum with their 4th malpractice to make more sordid the deformed walls this medium. The agony of want has troubled their offspring since fondling the Hole Below; though their flirt with the spacy spooks of Spectral Voice in May of 2019 awoke hopes of more foul pleasures, it was not nearly enough to satisfy the depraved longing felt throughout the growling bowels of the genre. Here now amidst the glimmering light of masterpieces bestowed upon us like a series of tongue lashings from a feared, crooked, god-mother, Orificial Purge has arrived from the moral-less abode of Vastum. Keeping in tune with what appears to be the band's favorite number, (6) lewd exercises have been unorganized for those seeking a means to deconstruct their mental soundness and revisit their sickness. The swamp is active yet again, massage the tingle, cum play in the slit.

'Dispossessed in the Rapture (First Wound)' is but the initial puncture made, an opening to access the pasture of delectation; some reflections of Gorephilia's 'Interplanar' and 'Hellfire' materialize yet no-less intersticed from what constitutes a Vastum record. The seductress Leila, still very active as the hive queen with her signature sexual-guitaring touch and seducing growls, while her primary larvae companion Daniel, stretches the cunt's elastic to bursting widths through his dungeneous bellows. Bacterial contamination meets new levels, such does the debauchery during 'Abscess Inside Us' as riffs swirl ecstatically within the septic, molested and maimed muff, hence the call for an 'Orificial Purge' is made necessary to absolve the germinal quagmire. Sit and watch the minge absentmindedly cannibalize itself, till a gory gush of genital juices pour from its vacuum.

The Quim rests in convalescence from cruel copulation, washed of microbe, though sore and depleted of energy, is not free and is still subject to brutality: however, until recovery is complete, measures are enforced to seek out another chasm of charms regardless of origin or construct. Vastum is a creature of an ever-modifying DNA structure forming to fit fetishes; while the familiarity of Shelby’s riffing and Luca’s pulse are perpetrated, one can’t help but notice the face of the organism slowly morphing amidst Chad’s drumming antics. Consistent double bass now appears to be more embraced by the band though not used very much; those moments primarily come to light on ‘Dispossessed in Rapture (First Wound)’ and self-titled track ‘Orificial Purge’, offering contrast and tinkering to the meaty bosom of Vastum’s sound, but does not come at the cost of intimacy. The collective effort put forth ensures no ends are loose, thus binding this poking asset compatibly for the final presentation.

Still no sentiments are expressed for the ailing, what’s done has been done, heads look toward the horizon for what new promises and delights may arrive all the while prepping in hopes ‘His Sapphic Longing’ is fulfilled. ‘Orificial Purge’, upon inspection comes across as a celebration of Vastum’s journey thus-far, modules of all that is their makeup swim to surface and is then greeted by elements now a bit more espoused though not copious to ensure a total change in methodology. To be released October 25th, 2019 on CD, vinyl cassette and digitally through 20 Buck Spin; let “Limerent objects intrude a stunted psyche”.

Rating: 9 out of 10