Info
- Band(s): Vital Spirit
- Label(s): Hidden Tribe, Vendetta Records
- Release Format(s): 12" vinyl, Cassette, CD
- Release Year: 2022
- Review Date: March 14, 2023
- Author(s): FelixS
Canadian Black Metal is getting more and more popular, and rightfully so, as their quite sophisticated approach to the genre is offering the listener something to sink their teeth into. The sense of grand melodies combined with the blazing speeds make this approach to Black Metal, dubbed ‘Métal Noir Québécois’, a beloved local scene. Although certainly not quite the same as bands like Forteresse or Sorcier Des Glaces, we can definitely put the duo of Vital Spirit in the same league.
On ‘Still As The Night, Cold As The Wind’ we can discern the very same ingredients that typify the Métal Noir Québécois scene: sharp edged riffs, flaming speed and icy cold shrieking vocals. But on top of that there is also a very outstanding sense for folky melodies, making Vital Spirit stand proud amongst their contemporaries. Though not being overly original in their craft, compared to the other bands in their native scene, Vital Spirit incorporates a strong resemblance to later Inquisition. They use a fierce and catchy single-guitar sort of riffing and melody picking that has a lot of similarity to what Inquisition uses, especially on their last two albums (‘Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith’ (2016) and ‘Black Mass For A Mass Grave’ (2020)).
The relatively short playing time of just around 35 minutes pays dividend to the album being particularly stinging, it grabs you and drags you along with the band’s creativity. Showing their adventurous musical visions through fierce riffs, folky melodies, (semi) acoustic passages and all the way back to its thundering rhythms.
Though Vital Spirit doesn’t yet have the same level of ingenuity of some of their genre’s masterminds, they have proven themselves a band to be reckoned with. People who enjoyed the works of bands like Forteresse, Sorcier Des Glaces, Cantique Lépreux, Monarque and the likes might do themselves a favour with checking out Vital Spirit as well.
Vital Spirit
- Country: Canada
- Style: Black Metal
- Links: Instagram, Bandcamp, Spotify
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Vendetta Records
- Country: Germany
- Style: Black Metal, Doom Metal, Grindcore, Other
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp
