Vanagandr is a project hailing from the depths of Chile, part of a growing number of bands from South America who specialize in raw and aggressive Black Metal. This release opens with a melancholic, dark atmosphere and keeps that tone throughout the runtime of around half an hour. Icy riffage over pummeling blastbeats is the meat and potatoes of Vanagandr’s sound, but that doesn’t hold them back like many other bands do. There is plenty of variation in the rhythm section, with the bass and drums switching things up at a satisfying pace from time to time. The guitars, too, vary enough to keep things interesting; there are several guitar solos, which is always a plus for me, as someone who’s grown a bit tired of the amateurish style persistent in the Black Metal scene today. The howling vocals are also fantastically executed, with a pure, unadulterated rage and passion behind them.
This is not to say that ‘Lycanthropic Black Metal’ is anything particularly innovative— the band’s stylistic influences are obvious (for instance, I hear a lot of mid-era Nargaroth and early Emperor in most of these tracks), but well-chosen and not at all plagiarized from. The riffs are clearly original and often quite memorable, accented with tasteful leads and occasional synth melodies which tie everything together quite nicely.
Vanagandr is a competent band, producing a solid, satisfying strain of Black Metal for fans of the modern raw variety.
