Review by Michael on September 13, 2022.

I don't know how the guys from Edged Circle Productions got this very special instinct for signing new bands with a very promising future (just to mention In Aphelion and AngelBlast with their latest releases) but I am pretty much impressed how regularly they throw out some of my personal musical highlights. And to anticipate my verdict about the upcoming Vathr EP Dead & United, this is one of my black metal highlights in 2022.

The approximate 20 minutes of Dead & United start with some spoken words and after this a Nordic blizzard is unleashed and the 'March Of The Dead' begins. Cold, eerie guitars howl through the winter night and some desperate, more spoken than sung chants summon the deceased in a northern winter forest near Bergen, where the band originated, to celebrate the dead. Vathr don't do fast black metal in the vein of Immortal or early Bathory here, no it is quite close to the glorious Aeternus or Hades (Almighty) and similar bands. The mid-tempo parts are very driving and intense and create a very dark and spooky atmosphere. In 'Messiah' the tempo is increased a little bit and this one turns out to be the catchiest song because of its somewhat black'n'roll structures and the very epic classic heavy metal guitar solo. Again parallels to the aforementioned bands are quite often to discover, especially the vocals sound like a bastard of these bands- not that harsh as Hades (Almighty) and not that sonorous as Aeternus - and this appear to me very attractive because it is pure passionate worship of old Norwegian black metal. The biggest surprise is the third and last track of this much too short EP. 'Crimson Cold Curse' (alliteration of the month!) is what the press info said about the release. “Vathr awakens the ancient spirit of black metal with this first step into the fire. For fans of “Blood, Fire, Death” era Bathory and early Nordic black metal.” Fuck, yes! This track is very much close to “Hammerheart” or “Twilight Of The Gods” that it is almost unbelievable. While listening to the track I always have the “Twilight Of The Gods” cover before my eyes. The vocals are kept a little bit more aggressive than Quorthon sung back then and with some distorted vocals the black metal aspect shines through a little bit more but from the music this is again pure worship.

As I said before, this is one of my highlights in the black metal genre in 2022 and I am really looking forward to the full-length album which will hopefully be released in 2023. Of course you can say that this release is just some tribute to Scandinavian black metal and not really innovative. But I don't need this innovation and I am pretty glad to listen to my old stuff from the 90s, sitting in my rocker and waiting for the reaper to get me. Do I have any point of criticism? Yes! 20 minutes is too short, much too short!! Because of this and because the full-length might have the potential to top this awesome piece of music I subtract a half point.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 freezing moons

Review by Michael on September 13, 2022.

I don't know how the guys from Edged Circle Productions got this very special instinct for signing new bands with a very promising future (just to mention In Aphelion and AngelBlast with their latest releases) but I am pretty much impressed how regularly they throw out some of my personal musical highlights. And to anticipate my verdict about the upcoming Vathr EP Dead & United, this is one of my black metal highlights in 2022.

The approximate 20 minutes of Dead & United start with some spoken words and after this a Nordic blizzard is unleashed and the 'March Of The Dead' begins. Cold, eerie guitars howl through the winter night and some desperate, more spoken than sung chants summon the deceased in a northern winter forest near Bergen, where the band originated, to celebrate the dead. Vathr don't do fast black metal in the vein of Immortal or early Bathory here, no it is quite close to the glorious Aeternus or Hades (Almighty) and similar bands. The mid-tempo parts are very driving and intense and create a very dark and spooky atmosphere. In 'Messiah' the tempo is increased a little bit and this one turns out to be the catchiest song because of its somewhat black'n'roll structures and the very epic classic heavy metal guitar solo. Again parallels to the aforementioned bands are quite often to discover, especially the vocals sound like a bastard of these bands- not that harsh as Hades (Almighty) and not that sonorous as Aeternus - and this appear to me very attractive because it is pure passionate worship of old Norwegian black metal. The biggest surprise is the third and last track of this much too short EP. 'Crimson Cold Curse' (alliteration of the month!) is what the press info said about the release. “Vathr awakens the ancient spirit of black metal with this first step into the fire. For fans of “Blood, Fire, Death” era Bathory and early Nordic black metal.” Fuck, yes! This track is very much close to “Hammerheart” or “Twilight Of The Gods” that it is almost unbelievable. While listening to the track I always have the “Twilight Of The Gods” cover before my eyes. The vocals are kept a little bit more aggressive than Quorthon sung back then and with some distorted vocals the black metal aspect shines through a little bit more but from the music this is again pure worship.

As I said before, this is one of my highlights in the black metal genre in 2022 and I am really looking forward to the full-length album which will hopefully be released in 2023. Of course you can say that this release is just some tribute to Scandinavian black metal and not really innovative. But I don't need this innovation and I am pretty glad to listen to my old stuff from the 90s, sitting in my rocker and waiting for the reaper to get me. Do I have any point of criticism? Yes! 20 minutes is too short, much too short!! Because of this and because the full-length might have the potential to top this awesome piece of music I subtract a half point.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 freezing moons

Review by Felix on October 15, 2025.

Back in the oppressive years of real existing socialism, jokes circulated about a fictional radio station "Radio Eriwan" (or in English: Yerevan). From 1922 to 1991, this city was not the capital of an independent state, but part of the Soviet Union and the lack of many things in everyday life was mocked with questions to the radio station and its answers. The answers of Armjanskoje Radio (its Russian name) followed the same structure again and again. For example: Do you have bananas in the socialistic society? - In principle, yes. They are just not yellow. And they aren't crooked. They taste somewhat special. We call them potatoes.

So now let me ask: Does Armenia have a black metal scene? In principle, no. But there is a rising force called Ildaruni. It is already active since eight years and its debut was released in 2021. The digipak of "Beyond Unseen Gateways" is decorated with a stylish artwork and a fine booklet. This kind of visual integrity corresponds with the musical content. What we get is more or less melodic black metal, never toothless, but slowly starting and with the most vehement tracks almost hidden on the later positions. The clear and clean production also does not add any kind of filth – the Armenian guys like their music free from dirt, cobwebs or fog. That's okay, in objective terms there is nothing wrong with this kind of mix. Only with respect to the basic ideas of the black subgenre, I think they should have preferred a slightly less polished sound.

Without being distractingly progressive, the regular songs after the emotional intro do not follow the traditional verse-chorus-verse scheme. Everything is meticulously arranged, surprisingly adult and mature for a debut. Maybe this approach is at the expense of spontaneity from time to time, but it is never annoying. The use of whistles and bagpipes speaks for the intention of creating something extraordinary as well, but Ildaruni do not penetrate the listener with these only rarely integrated instruments.

Fortunately, it can be said that the band and its main composer Robert do not get lost in details. The respective song itself is always in the focus of their creative work and "Perpetual Vigil" marks the first hit. It rises from a dark Caucasian region, mirrors both tragedy and repression and scores with its profound musical depth. The following, pretty fast-paced "Boundless Numen: Gardens Of Ardini" gives lead vocalist Artak the possibility to strain his vocal cords and indeed, he is getting close to last exit called hoarseness. Anyway, he performs solid and variable over the entire distance of the album.

Ildaruni's pieces have a length of six to eight minutes and this alone may give you a feeling for the monumental, majestic and epic structures of their debut. Thankfully, they do not drown in their own larger-than-life emotions. There is always the necessary harshness which can be understood as a characteristic feature of the material. Whenever the bands reveals its affinity for high velocity, the guys create a dynamic aura. This is even true when they combine speedy rhythms with a melody of a whistle and sacral vocals like they do in a short sequence of "Towards Subterranean Realms". Okay, generally speaking, the musical level of excitement could be a bit higher. On the other hand, I have a lot of respect for a band that releases a debut without any filler and this is the case here. With ten percent more pressure of the guitars and a few more merciless outbursts of high speed ("Arakha" and the great closer "Whence Ravenstone Beckons" deliver some of the best), the album would have been even better, but we can't have it all. At least not already with the first full-length. The second album of the band will be released next month. I have heard that it will be a killer. But maybe I should ask Armjanskoje Radio first in order to be certain.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10