Review by Felix on May 28, 2023.

The endless spheres of the world wide web made it possible that I stumbled over the title track of "Lunaris" some months ago. I had never heard about this obviously talented formation from Poland before, but this song caught my attraction very quickly. Arkona, another band of the highly interesting Debemur Morti label (Arckanum, Behexen, Haemoth...), seemed to stand for constantly flowing black metal with a pretty diabolic atmosphere. Limbonic Arts came to my mind reflexively, although I am quite not sure whether they are the right reference in this context. Yet the affinity of Arkona to pen excessive black metal songs with an average duration of eight minutes ensures a certain proximity to the Norwegian pioneers of the mid-nineties.

All songs convey a continuously demonic, somewhat majestic feeling, because the dark guitar lines take effect, no matter what's the velocity. The album commutes between blast beats and mid-paced velocity. Tempo changes and breaks are carefully selected and their sole purpose is to increase the force of the respective track. Needless to say that the vocals are aligned with the musical approach and therefore one listens to a hoarse, raw and pretty expressive vocal performance. Arkona do not have a singer who prefers high-pitched tones like Schmier or the falsetto of King Diamond, but he is able to interpret the tried and tested formula of the sub genre very well. By the way, the singer is just a session vocalist. I recommend a further engagement, yet I have heard that these black metal freaks do not accept a God, not even me. But that's beside the point.

Just like Limbonic Art, the Polish horde integrates keyboards without triggering a loss of quality by doing so. The synthetic sounds create or underline the eerie atmosphere which keeps the songs of "Lunaris" together. Even a piano shows up during the fourth track and evokes a nice contrast to some vehement blast beats that follow the soft intermezzo. This is another stylistic device which is neither innovative nor surprising, but once again, the band makes very good use of the sub genre's toolbox. And they have the good fortune to offer their songs with a very dense sound which creates a profound heaviness. There can be no doubt that the production does not leave much room for improvement in terms of clean brutality (and you hopefully know what I want to say). Thus, the pretty triumphant yet dark melodies have found a biotope where they are able to develop magnificently.

As a result of all these characteristics, "Lunaris" is another strong Debemur Morti release and a more than competitive album. The Polish underground seems to guard some treasures, for example the blackened thrashers of Ragehammer, the slightly obscure black legion of Deus Mortem and, naturally, Arkona. Although they sing about a "corpse pale moon", I am sure that they can bring more colour into the life of a black metal maniac. If not, the endless spheres of the world wide web will give the possibility to test something else.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on September 23, 2024.

From the horrific death-defying depths of Boston, Massachusetts, comes a one-man black metal band by the name of Vein, consisting of one individual member called Death Fiend. Back in 2013, Vein has already presented itself to the world with its debut demo ...Into The Vein, but come October 14th, 2022, the band would return with its first full-length album Blood Oaths which was originally released by the label Eternal Death, and has ever since been re-released on cassette via Headsplit Records and on CD via Godz Ov War Productions. Let’s take a look at this beast and see what it has to offer, shall we?

After a pretty lengthy narration during the first half of the opening track “Total Vascular Collapse”, we finally get a glimpse of the awaited carnage that comes in the form of a primitive and bestial black metal from the fiery depths of hell, evoking an incredibly frightening and esoteric aura that shrieks through the caveman styled tremolo riffs, blast beats and intense vocals that vary between harsh shouting and gutturals. The overall atmosphere of Vein is on a different level from other black metal bands I’ve heard lately, because you truly get a sense of dwelling within an infernal realm where tormented souls scream out from every corner because every song contains these dark Ambiental elements in forms of distorted noises and echoing voices that add such a layer to the band’s sound, particularly with the example such as “L.S.D.” which really sounds like you’re overdosed and reliving the movie Altered States (1980). On top of the band’s original material, we also get a cover of Kilslug’s “Warlocks Witches and Demons” which is very much in tune with the rest of Blood Oaths tracklist, and some of you might find this as an interesting inclusion on the album or at least a relatively solid solution for prolonging the album’s runtime. Throughout this entire hellish journey, you will come to realize that the album really has a strong emphasis on dark ambiance and horrific atmosphere, which is pretty interesting considering that the band manages to keep it strong and consistent for the entirety of Blood Oaths, and since there is a huge element of tension and suspense, one can’t help but constantly think what horror awaits on the other side. 

What really stood out about the songwriting and the musical style of Vein is that it’s very close to bands such as Von, Blasphemy, Conqueror, early Beherit, and Archgoat, especially in its overall execution that feels like a balance of black and death metal which possesses strengths of both subgenres and yet still doesn’t break away from its established formula. Even the raw, cave-reverb and demo-like quality sound production gives out that feeling like the band was heading for that vintage bestial sound that sounds like grinding flesh and blood. The songs themselves aren’t all that outstanding or particularly interesting, but they do still manage to play out their part effectively thanks to the ominous atmosphere that they build. My first impression of this album was a bit perplexing because on hand I like what it does and where it goes, but on the other hand, I really feel like the band didn’t really do that much on this album because I feel like Vein could go even deeper in their songwriting and explore so much more. If there is one thing that they do successfully on Blood Oaths, it’s the fact that they keep things relatively simple and on point from beginning to end, because on its own their music still possesses a lot of strengths that are yet to be “unlocked” or “developed” in the future, especially because it shows a great deal of potential that could be further expanded and shaped into something more captivating. 

All in all, Vein’s Blood Oaths is a pretty decent album with tons of violence and a dark atmosphere, and such strengths show that the band is on a good path. I’ll have to admit, even though I enjoyed this album to a certain extent, I do still have high hopes for something even more powerful that will surely come to happen in a few years. If you’re a fan of bestial and caveman-styled black metal with an esoteric vibe, I recommend that you check it out. 

Rating: 7.3 out of 10