Review by Jeger on January 29, 2025.

On the brink of the spiral do we who have not yet taken the final plunge drift. Swirling over the passing years of our steady inglorious demise in vessels of depression, frustration and anger as realizations of life's many deceptions are solidified through each season of suffering. Sounds pretty black metal. Actually, it sounds very post-black metal, which is exactly what this is. Black metal, but more cathartic and beholden to varying outside influences that are generally distant from black metal. Panopticon, Harakiri for the Sky, The Spirit and Vintras are a few of the predominant names that are spearheading the movement. The latter will release their debut Timescarred LP on March 27 via Void Wanderer / War Productions.

Music that is as hopeless and crafted with as much tunnel vision as Mgła: focused, honed and locked into the task at hand - the manufacturing of misery in the form of song, but with a remarkable silver lining. The titular track unfolds to all of those familiar depressive melodies and exudes similar levels of nihilistic cachet, but as we venture in further, we find ourselves set adrift over the fog upon grande majestic passages; voluminous compositions that draw from deep within the gut the faintest sense of hope just before we're plummeted back to surface level at melancholy's mercy. Like the feeling of dread you feel once the victim in a horror flick is captured again after making her daring escape only to be returned to the torture block for cleansing.

Youth is wasted on the young! And once we get to a certain age, life is nothing more than a struggle against the tide. We know it's coming but we try to distract ourselves from it as best we can through shit like work, partying, social media and the reveling in our many accomplishments, but it's right there in the mirror… We're dying and no one gets out alive. This sense of impending doom and of deathly foreshadowing is thick here in the throes of Timescarred. Even as accessible as tracks like "The Wretched Wanderer" can be, there's just no escaping the existential dread of it all, the weight of the matter. Heavy and rhythmic, anthemic and just massive - too bold to be labeled anything close to true black metal. Transcendent! Yet grounded enough to where you have no choice but to take it heavily to heart.

Bands like Vintras and individuals such as ourselves aren't fucking fooled. We are here to suffer. Even as we do whatever it is we're doing right in this very moment, we are suffering in some way. The world is not a beautiful place and there is no escaping the inevitable. We simply ride the snake through varying levels of depression, anxiety and false hope until we reach the end of the line. I wouldn't wish life on anyone… I would encourage you to listen to Timescarred. Like a dance with despair under silver moonlight or a glass of wine with death is this record and every bit as romantic. A toast! To your remaining years. May they be full of ignorant bliss instead of staunchly conceived realizations of future suffering and grim death. And here's to Vintras - a proud new entity on the UK post BM scene. Very powerful debut.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on August 16, 2023.

Ever since my early teens, I’ve been a big fan of the legendary German heavy metal band Accept. The reason why I love their music so much apart from the energy and the heaviness were the vocals of Udo Dirkschneider, who is still to this day the definitive voice for Accept, with no disrespect to David Reece or Mark Tornillo. Sadly, I have not been able to catch up with Udo’s solo career with his own band U.D.O. after the departure with Accept, but I was very reluctant to give myself a chance with their new album Touchdown, which is set to be released on August 25th via Atomic Fire Records. Whatever may be the outcome of this album upon its release, I am sure that millions of fans will never turn their back on U.D.O. even if they end up having lukewarm feelings towards the album, but I personally doubt that will be the case. 

If what you came for was headbanging heavy metal, then the first track 'Isolation Man' already delivers your deepest desires. The song immediately gives you an impression that this album is going to be packed with tight and heavy riffs, which along with Udo’s signature singing, backing vocals and the powerful drumming form thunder and lightning. If you were by any chance hungry for some catchy and melodic guitar work on this album, then you’ve got it friend, because the third track 'The Double Dealer’s Club' is hot rocking all the way through. One interesting bit that made me chuckle was the segment that appears on the fourth song 'Fight For The Right', which is when the band suddenly started playing the classic composition “Turkish March” by Mozart. Of course, this isn’t anything unusual considering the fact that bands like Helloween and Savatage both included “In The Hall Of The Mountain” by Edvard Grieg in their songs, but it was awesome to hear U.D.O. briefly cover Mozart in their own song. The general songwriting is straightforward in-your-face heavy metal with mighty “balls to the wall” that shine like pure steel all throughout the album. Some of the songs like 'Heroes Of Freedom' for example opt for a more uplifting approach, while others tend to lean on a heavy metal breakdown that wants nothing more than to crush the speakers and bring the walls down. Even though the heavy riffs and sweet guitar solos certainly deliver, what I consider to be the strongest point on this album is definitely Udo’s vocal performance. The man himself is 71 years old, yet he still sounds as great as he did back in the prime days of Accept, which is just incredible and unbelievable at the same time. I had no doubt whatsoever about Udo’s singing, because even though he does age physically, his vocals stay fresh and strong as always. It’s not so common these days to find a famed heavy metal vocalist who keeps their vocals in good shape, but Udo is certainly one of the few rare examples that in my humble opinion deserves more than words of respect. What’s also a great thing about this album is that it doesn’t feel too long and that it’s not getting weaker at some point like many albums tend to do on the other half or once it’s nearing its closure. I must say that this is indeed an impressive feat considering that there are a total of 13 songs, which were successful in keeping my constant attention. I personally found it very hard to tell which are some of the strongest songs on this album, because every song is great in their own way and each one of them delivers. Some of the stand out songs I could name for you are definitely 'Isolation Man', 'Fight For The Right', 'Punchline', 'Better Start To Run', 'The Battle Understood' and the title track 'Touchdown', but I still think it’s unfair to just name a few songs on this album since every song is worthy of attention and praise. I understand that Accept and U.D.O. fans are divided in terms of how they treat each of these bands, but I still believe that one can be a fan of both and simply enjoy the music, without the need to undermine one or the other, certainly if you have something so good such as this. The modern sound production does the album justice by giving a good treatment to the guitars with a heavy tone, but also making the drums and the vocals stand out as well. 

Although I wouldn’t go as far to consider Touchdown to be my number 1 heavy metal album of the year, I think it still deserves to be on the top of the metal charts along with many other albums that were released this year. Despite the fact that I didn’t follow up on other U.D.O. albums up until this point, going back to hear the almighty man sing on 'Touchdown' was absolutely enough for me, but all the great songs on this album was what made me stay all the way through this incredible joyride. I can’t say for sure that others will enjoy this album as much as I did, but I can definitely guarantee that a diehard fan of Accept or U.D.O. will find plenty to admire in these songs. 

Rating: 8.7 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 9, 2023.

Uhritulet is another unit from (you guessed it) Finland and (of course, you guessed it again) another one man project. My romantic thoughts about a handful of friends making music in order to take the world by storm is old-fashioned as hell. Either way, the guy who runs this project calls himself VP. Without long hair or corpsepaint, he rather looks like a middle-class kid in a nice leather jacket on vacation, but this review is not about his promo picture. Doubtlessly, the self-titled debut does not win through quantity. The release clocks in at 31 minutes. Without the completely useless intro, where a soft guitar fails to set the stage and some birds caw in the distance, we would speak about an EP, right? 

Anyway, five fully equipped tracks remain. Uhritulet sound less cold and merciless than some of their more famous compatriots. The diabolic vehemence of bands such as Behexen, Malum or Azaghal is not the territory of VP. Nevertheless, his approach does not lack the necessary grimness, although he likes to integrate some melodic segments. 'Ytenä Heistä' surprises with a bewitching keyboard line that hovers over the guitars. It is catchy, expressive and atmospheric, what more can we demand? 'Katoan' is another song that gives room for harmonic lines. The melody at the beginning almost conveys a happy touch and therefore an ultimate disaster is imminent, but the song does not fall victim to its own vibrations. After the ambivalent beginning, it turns out to a fast-paced winterstorm. 

VP’s voice is responsible for the bitter note in the sound of Uhritulet. His throaty approach expresses pain and desolation. This is no extraordinary performance, but truly a good one. It looks as if the middle-class kid in his nice leather jacket isn't so harmless after all. By the way, the production also does not suffer from harmlessness. The guitars lend the album the necessary pressure, the drums sound okay and the voice has enough room to develop its full force. 

The closer 'Yön Soihduissa', a song with some parts that strongly remind me of Burzum’s “Dunkelheit”, celebrates mega-heavy slow motion riffing before it flows into an organ outro. This unexpected turn is no isolated case. Despite its short runtime, the album shows many faces and especially the closer has a lot of different facets. Just take, for example, the rocking structure of 'Tuomittu', a piece that could almost fill the dancefloor in a dark rock disco. In my humble opinion, this variety indicates a very robust potential and I hope that the artist behind Uhrilutet does not want to end as a one album wonder. This would be a shame, because Uhrilutet, ornamented with a stylish artwork, does not defy its roots and it is definitely a good start.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10