Review by Vanass on April 11, 2020.

Vaar is one of the phenomena in metal with no known history or reason to believe that the project will lead to something as great as this short release. It didn't take more than two seconds to convince me that this is a great album that you have to listen to from the beginning to the end.

The first track 'As Dusk Fell' is simply an explosion of different sensations. What surprised even me as a fan of atmospheric black metal is how fast the riffs are in the beginning. The main riff is simply a beautifully executed piece of melancholic art that develops into something that you could call euphoric or happy. The whole EP has several connections to the post-black metal or blackgaze sound; the major chords and the resulting happy melodies. But the high-quality characteristic of it is that despite the fact that the atmosphere is not openly melancholic, the overall sound is quite cold, which can be attributed to the relatively raw production. The man behind this project has the ability to write incredible riffs that simply feel fresh, although their origin is quite obvious at times.

Another thing that characterizes this release are the acoustic parts. They are kept simple, don't last too long and certainly have a rational place in the structure of the songs. Nevertheless, I would say that they are one of the weaker aspects of this whole release. There is just too much contrast between the fuzzy fast or mid-tempo riffs and the slow acoustic parts, which would actually be quite pleasant if they were all separate tracks. The second track 'Wounded Roots' is a nice example of an acoustic track that fits perfectly into the album as a whole.

The drum sound just suits the music and dictates a perfect tempo for the guitars. Although the main focus is on the guitars, the drums magnify the atmosphere almost perfectly; I can't say that the beats are too complex or have too many variations, instead, they accompany the riffs and deepen the trance caused by the melodies, thus keeping their intended function. The slow and simple drumbeats during the acoustic parts are also very pleasant and improve them considerably.

This album is mainly instrumental, but the vocals on the first track are just amazing; incredibly high, raw and rooted in DSBM. Should the future releases contain more vocal parts, something very interesting could come out of it and certainly intensify the melancholic side of the concept.

The bad thing about this album is that it simply suffers from the same weakness as the majority of atmospheric black metal. The melodies and the atmosphere may be incredibly attractive at the first impression, and when you start to fall into a trance-like state by listening to the same riff over and over again, the songs become quite predictable, and the effect of the atmosphere starts to lose its initial impact. No doubt this album has a lot of replay quality, it is just unique and complex enough to captivate you.

Nevertheless, this is a pretty strong release that has taken me through various emotional states and thrown me into an imaginary forest, and it has definitely fulfilled its purpose as an atmospheric black metal album. It may have its weaker parts, but the overall atmosphere and amazing riffs certainly justify the artistic value of this album. So, I would undoubtedly recommend this album to all fans of atmospheric and post-black metal or anyone who is curious enough.

Therefore I would say that the wisest thing to do would be to stop reading this review and start listening to this piece immediately.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Vanass on April 11, 2020.

Vaar is one of the phenomena in metal with no known history or reason to believe that the project will lead to something as great as this short release. It didn't take more than two seconds to convince me that this is a great album that you have to listen to from the beginning to the end.

The first track 'As Dusk Fell' is simply an explosion of different sensations. What surprised even me as a fan of atmospheric black metal is how fast the riffs are in the beginning. The main riff is simply a beautifully executed piece of melancholic art that develops into something that you could call euphoric or happy. The whole EP has several connections to the post-black metal or blackgaze sound; the major chords and the resulting happy melodies. But the high-quality characteristic of it is that despite the fact that the atmosphere is not openly melancholic, the overall sound is quite cold, which can be attributed to the relatively raw production. The man behind this project has the ability to write incredible riffs that simply feel fresh, although their origin is quite obvious at times.

Another thing that characterizes this release are the acoustic parts. They are kept simple, don't last too long and certainly have a rational place in the structure of the songs. Nevertheless, I would say that they are one of the weaker aspects of this whole release. There is just too much contrast between the fuzzy fast or mid-tempo riffs and the slow acoustic parts, which would actually be quite pleasant if they were all separate tracks. The second track 'Wounded Roots' is a nice example of an acoustic track that fits perfectly into the album as a whole.

The drum sound just suits the music and dictates a perfect tempo for the guitars. Although the main focus is on the guitars, the drums magnify the atmosphere almost perfectly; I can't say that the beats are too complex or have too many variations, instead, they accompany the riffs and deepen the trance caused by the melodies, thus keeping their intended function. The slow and simple drumbeats during the acoustic parts are also very pleasant and improve them considerably.

This album is mainly instrumental, but the vocals on the first track are just amazing; incredibly high, raw and rooted in DSBM. Should the future releases contain more vocal parts, something very interesting could come out of it and certainly intensify the melancholic side of the concept.

The bad thing about this album is that it simply suffers from the same weakness as the majority of atmospheric black metal. The melodies and the atmosphere may be incredibly attractive at the first impression, and when you start to fall into a trance-like state by listening to the same riff over and over again, the songs become quite predictable, and the effect of the atmosphere starts to lose its initial impact. No doubt this album has a lot of replay quality, it is just unique and complex enough to captivate you.

Nevertheless, this is a pretty strong release that has taken me through various emotional states and thrown me into an imaginary forest, and it has definitely fulfilled its purpose as an atmospheric black metal album. It may have its weaker parts, but the overall atmosphere and amazing riffs certainly justify the artistic value of this album. So, I would undoubtedly recommend this album to all fans of atmospheric and post-black metal or anyone who is curious enough.

Therefore I would say that the wisest thing to do would be to stop reading this review and start listening to this piece immediately.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Joshua on April 5, 2004.

It’s hard to find enough superlatives to finish this review. This review, in fact, is increasingly difficult to write – I keep hitting “repeat”, and never writing anything. I’ve been doing this all weekend, and would continue my listening, if not for increasing pressure to finish this review.

The dilemma isn’t what to say, but where to properly begin singing this album’s praises. It’s been a quarter century since thrash metal debuted with the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal); fifteen years since death metal took root in Florida; a decade since the Swedish sound caught on; and I’ve heard maybe a handful of albums that were this good. Hearse are the closest thing yet to a perfect combination of the three. Not since Edge of Sanity’s nearly perfect Purgatory Afterglow has any band produced a death metal album where every riff is interesting, every song original, everything a pounding, energizing anthem. Wasn’t this thrash metal’s ultimate goal? Wasn’t this what made such albums as Master of Puppets and Among the Living great? That’s what one hears throughout this album, starting with a monumental opener…

…and that’s their weakest song. The strongest, “In Love and War”, “Tools”, and “Cambodia”, epitomize the thrash metal anthem. I know there are death metal vocals, but they’re pure thrash metal anthems. Judas Priest, in their bygone heyday, would be hard-pressed to approach this music, much less surpass the more impressive songs. Metallica were barely this good. Latecomer Swedish success stories such as In Flames were never close. Most of the music is structured similarly to the old trash metal giants, adopting the familiar verse-chorus-verse approach, but it’s so magnificently crafted that each composition sounds original. I say “most” because there are several forays into older Swedish death metal, particularly later in the album, sounding similar to the better parts of old Entombed and Arch Enemy. “Play without Rules” sounds a lot like the Entombed classic “Sinners Bleed”, mixed with parts of Sigh’s Imaginary Sonicscape — the timing of the keyboard piece is genius, preventing the song from degenerating into near-plagiarism. Taken individually, each could be the theme for thousands of rebellious youth. Taken together, the adrenaline rush they create is a central nervous system overload.

In case I haven’t made this obvious, Hearse have a prominent thrash influence. Anyone can hear it; I draw parallels to everything from Motorhead (Campbell-Würzel era), to Anthrax (circa Among the Living) to the bygone wonder that was Exodus. The death metal influence is most reminiscent of Edge of Sanity’s Purgatory Afterglow, The Haunted’s Made Me Do It, and Arch Enemy’s Stigmata, all of which possessed a strong thrash influence. Then again, this album isn’t a mere repetition of these. This remains original. It’s a sign of remarkable talent, really, that Hearse can begin with such well-established ideas, and present them in an amazing new light.

What sets this apart, then? Why did Hearse succeed so famously, where others merely tried? Here, I am tacky, and answer my own rather stupid question: this album plays as if Hearse studied which elements other bands did right, and then incorporated only those. For example, keyboards are very seldom used, and, even then, only appear to prevent songs from growing monotonous. Johan Liiva only sings clearly on the last couple of songs, and is restricted to a range of notes that he hits flawlessly. Furthermore, the album’s arrangement is clever enough that it flows as a whole entity, from start to finish, rather than feeling like a bunch of disconnected, choppy segments. To put this another way, the clichés that cheapen and bastardize so many other newer metal albums simply aren’t present here. Hearse either tuned them down, or left them out.

Where does that leave us? Well, the end result is a monumental release, bridging the gap between European death metal and old-school thrash metal, nearly perfect in its’ execution. Ten years from now, this will be counted among the new generation of metal greats. The next generation of metal bands will all list this disc among their influences, and, much like today’s bands cover Venom and Motorhead, most of tomorrow’s bands will cover Hearse. This is one for the ages. This is what heavy metal ought to be. Buy this, even if you purchase no other music this year.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10 (THAT’S RIGHT, I SAID “10”.)
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 10
Originality: 9
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.8 out of 10