A few months ago, I delved into the vertebrae of Valdrin’s last full-length album. This EP raised my expectations significantly since two years of silence have passed. The band has maintained a very good pace of releases and a proposal marked by an eclectic sound; I believe this has propelled them enough to sign this EP with the long-established and renowned Italian label Avantgarde Records.
The album opens with ‘Poison Soul Vents’, where a short introduction and a scream drag us into the fertile ground of musicality to which they have accustomed us. A minute and a half after the initial march, which gallops at a half-tempo pace, a piano bridge plunges us headlong into a whirlwind of blast beats and the first chewed-up lyrics. I feel a stronger charge of shouted hatred in this recording from Carter, featuring shouted intervals and recited passages amidst effects and distortion that inject a diverse nuance into the music. As expected, Valdrin deploys orchestration throughout the track to engender that aura of majesty pervading the entire spectrum of the recording.
The next track, ‘Black Imperial Smoke’, emerges with a wall of keyboards that remind me of Dimmu Borgir from the ‘Spiritual Black Dimensions’ era. Now the guitars take centre stage amidst dissonances, pounding riffs, and harmonics, like a shadow of the past emerging from the verses. Gregorian chants intertwine, interspersed with bridges that are a delight to the old-school ear, a breath of old Black Metal that interconnects with a galloping drumbeat, giving the sensation of machine-gun fire. This leads to the chorus with dual high and guttural vocals before falling into a slower tempo that gradually dies away. It becomes more hypnotic in its progression, finally collapsing in the whispers of its own blood. This is undoubtedly one of the tracks that deserves a place on my podium of the work.
The track situated at the centre of the universal abyss of this EP is called ‘Ignite the Murder Shrine’, which blends everything the Cincinnati natives have unleashed so far. It offers complexity without descending into chaos: beautifully crafted orchestrations, nuanced vocals, and overwhelming rhythms interweaving blast beats with offbeat, slow, and fast tempos, plus a brutal guitar and keyboard performance. I think the bass got a little buried among so many elements, but at intervals, it lets itself be heard behind the walls of frequencies. Nearing the end, the best moments of this track unfold with nods to Nocturnus’ ‘The Key’. (This album must be among the musicians’ influences, though I don’t want to speculate). There is also perhaps a nod to Pestilence’s ‘Spheres’, with highly melodic, accelerated guitar solos that display virtuosity and create a majestic ending.
‘The Muttering Derelict’ is the shortest track on the EP. ‘Short’ would be a sacrilegious term for Valdrin, since all the tracks have an average duration of five minutes, but they clearly need this length to amalgamate all the compositional elements the band uses. It is just as consistent as its predecessors, featuring bridges where speed predominates and verses where lyrics are recited. The Death Metal-oriented riffs never lose their technicality; for instance, parts where a ‘hiccup’ in the drum rhythm becomes complex due to the interplay of the bass drums. The vocals do their job and the guitars pound to the dictated rhythm, complementing the keyboard in a tune that resembles a waltz in the distance. This makes ‘The Muttering Derelict’ one of the most technical and progressive tracks on the EP.
To top it all off, the longest track stands between blast beats and keyboard effects. This work gives the feeling that all the instruments are contenders to see who can do the most volatile job; for example, the drumming is exceptional. Across the five tracks, the guitars have unleashed several riffs, memorable solos, and tremolo picking. Beyond what has been said, the vocals are a highlight; in ‘Veins of Akasha’ (my favourite track title), there is another style of vocals with different effects, reminiscent of what Shagrath did in ‘Death Cult Armageddon’. They assault the march, which at times seems to fall on high notes over frenetic rhythms, creating a sensation of dizzying, controlled chaos. It is clear that nothing is left to improvisation; no outburst is unleashed without technical mastery. As is the band’s trademark, these measures fall into bridges with irregular rhythms that connect with verses before increasing speed again. It is similar to the sensation of a roller coaster, but all orchestrated with atmospheric links. The EP finally bids farewell by falling into a tantric vortex of moans, screams, and voices from other dimensions.
My conclusion is that ‘Apex Violator’ is a clear and brutal continuation of the last album. The band’s concise and modern sound blends elements of old-school Death and Black Metal with virtuosity and orchestral atmospheres that range from ancient classical pieces to spectral, spacey sonic landscapes. While I believe this work is a narrative continuation of the saga developed in previous albums, the connection with the striking artwork is immediately apparent from the first track. Everything intertwines like infernal cables of the cosmic matrix that binds all beings in their quest for spiritual elevation beyond the oppression of the flesh.
