In my review of ‘Ascending Into Perdition’, I wrote that this debut album by the band, released in 2022, proved that their formula, as presented on the first three 12″ EPs, has only deepened and gained in song quality. Now, a couple of years later, I think that statement still stands for the most part, but I think that, in all fairness, a footnote should be added. The band might have grown in terms of song writing ability, yet in hindsight, now a good couple of years later, that all came at the expense of the impact and overall intensity of the music. After reviewing ‘Ascending Into Perdition’ I haven’t ever felt the urge to revisit the album, which might say enough to start with, but now that I have listened to it again twice, I think it is fair to conclude that Darvaza is slowly losing its raison d’être.
That feeling is even strengthened after having ‘We Are Him’ a good couple of times. While it is absolutely not a bad album it never captures the attention completely. Not only because ‘We Are Him’ feels like a repetition of the things we’ve already heard on previous releases, but because there is a surprising lack of urgency in the tracks. Darvaza was never about stunning dynamics or versatility, but in the end these seven new songs go by without anything really memorable happening. In fact, and I don’t mean to sound all too rude or disrespectful, as a whole, the album sounds just tedious and tiresome.
And that idea is not focussed on the music alone, also Wraath’s vocals feel uninspired and even almost forced. It could very well be that ‘We Are Him’ is the result of both involved musicians simply having too much bands going. I can imagine that at some point it feels like a kind of obligation to come up with new material for all those bands and projects every now and then. This will undoubtedly put pressure on your inspiration and creativity. Of course, I can’t judge from the sidelines whether this also applies to Darvaza, but what the duo delivers with this album is barely acceptable and, to me, symbolises the slowly crumbling empire of this kind of modern Black Metal.
Simply put, I miss the intensity and unbridled energy that emanated from Sinmara or Celestial Bloodshed, for example. No one is forcing these same musicians to continuously start new bands and projects with each other and in different line-ups, or to bury these projects before their time. (FelixS)
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Connection becomes a particular essence in which a spirit yearns…craves, to be able to pour themselves into another, and for another to replicate such action, when senses copulate with each other, to produce a crescendo worthy of a true experience. A soul’s compass may often lead it to the well from whence art is full, where art is abundant, and then in that moment, we become drunk in its splendor, we may even wish to don its words, its images like a skin, to shed our very own and merge with its being. I do believe that both the quest and discovery hold the glorious weight, both where the scales are balanced in the journey undertaken…
‘We are Him’ by Darvaza echoes the aforementioned, for what is presented is not merely just an album, rather it is a jewel fashioned by the many tongues which commune through the stygian void, a jewel that bewitches the mind, like the oil which anoints the crown of the head to the sole of the feet, this work of art prepares the consciousness to place itself upon the proverbial altar and receive such sermon where words are transmuted into coiling serpent that nestles in the hearth of the mind.
Dissecting the body of Black Metal, Darvaza takes the organs as an offering and into its pyre, the smoke coils to their whim producing a sound that becomes entrancing through tone and spirit, radiating a similar resonance to such bands as Behexen and Svartidauði, Darvaza adopts a rather minimalist approach to this offering, wherein, the resonance of the instruments is physical and direct, for no frivolity exists which bogs its weight down. In other words its execution becomes much more impactful and by extension, visceral. It is because of this stripped down approach, akin to their other releases, especially the last album, ‘Ascending Into Perdition’, which showcases their very own brand of Black Metal, a brand that summons forth a ceremonial candor in a rather crude yet virulent form, for it is like a flame that is manifested from the striking of rocks, jagged against each other, yet it is from this simple act that a torch is crafted, the same torch that lights the pyres.
A serpentine motion is prevalent on the album, wherein the songs are stitched together with a common tone, a rather convulsing, yet galloping sound on tracks such as ‘Holy Blood’ and ‘Blood of No-One’, this in itself creates a captivating aspect, allowing the album to become animate yet intimate, and this is achieved through the unison of the strings and percussions, expelling a sharp, yet potent tone, as though a dialogue is being woven between these two elements, a dialogue that carries the senses upon this coiling and undulant sensation.
When the consciousness traverses the contours of art, even though an earnest experience of the intangible is sought, I do believe that it also craves the physical touch to connect with that beyond the invisible. The percussive elements within ‘We Are Him’ forges that diptych betwixt mind and art, where the incendiary tones of the drums, at times even masking itself in a ‘Black ‘n’ Roll’ sound becomes the swollen artery, pulsating in accordance to the strings and vocals, forming a cohesion that feels livid in its reverberation.
In tangent to this, the album’s aura surrounds itself with a hypnotic sensation, granting unto the notes a sacramental undertone. ‘Lazarus’ and ‘Slaying Heaven’, for instance employs a slow-paced, doom-tinged cadence to the guitars, showcasing Darvaza’s robustness, wherein the strength comes naught from intensity and ferocity, rather it is the action of taking a forbidding and discordant sound, and from this crude element, carving it into a construct that appears as an ode to worship that which exceeds human thoughts and comprehension.
“And so this shall be known as Darvaza the great beast of fire…” and unto this great beast let the body rend its flesh and cast the gobbet into the crimson lake, for through offering, the soul shall be rid of that which is decadent, and from a sigil etched in sound, let it stain and haunt the consciousness very existence forevermore. (Justin Joseph)
