EP Review | Vonlaus | Röð slæmra ákvarðan

This release is packed to the brim with alluring musical tones while the grotesque and unhinged screamed vocals decry all things earthly and human. I find the vocal tone more entrancing than harsh. Like a triumphant shout or sometimes a cry for help rather than an aggressive attack on your ears. The bass when heard playing alone is distorted and fuzzed-out but in a most pleasant way, the tone warm and enveloping. The guitars are also only mildly distorted, feeling crisp and mystical, drenched in reverb, and always sound melodious. The drums play a far less intense role than in most black metal bands. I attribute this mostly to the warm tonal quality of the drums; however, the music also makes use of more rock or punk style grooves than would be expected. The drums do of course feature some great double-kick sections and blasts, but the drumming style is much more diverse than one usually expects of this style of music, which I find refreshing. This overall combination of instrumental style and tone is equal parts darkness and light. The music is filled with power, the triumphant charge of a doomed brigade. Sombre, beautiful, and yearning.

This is a short release, being an EP only just breaking the nineteen-minute mark, however, every track on the album is quality. Of the four tracks on this release, I do not think I can pick a favourite, although I do have many favourite parts which I will outline in more detail now as I break down the tracks.

The album kicks off with “Gjaldþrot” (“Bankruptcy”). The samples heard at the start of the album misled me slightly, due to the short length of the album and the ‘flicking through a radio’ sample style complete with children’s song. Initially, this gave me the impression I was going into a grindcore album. How wrong I was. Before long the fuzzy bass opens the piece, the part is swung and almost a bit jazzy, but it is quickly punctuated by rich guitar chords and groovy drums. Immediately the emotional intensity of the album is on full display, like a rider racing through the snowy woods, bringing a warning, a message of war. Shortly before the two-minute mark, we get a sustained section that leads us into another impellent set of chords and drums. I don’t know quite how to describe or explain it, but this music wells up emotions in my chest, filling me with feelings of longing, remorse, and wistfulness. I find tears welling up in my eyes as the inevitable weight of reality grows heavy on my shoulders. One of the most moving parts of the piece has to be the effect-drenched guitar lead that breaks out of the mix at 2:30, purifying the soul and purging me of all earthly desires.

Track two, “Gegn mér” (“Against me”) draws from very similar emotional places although the drums are slightly more aggressive on this track. The vocals vary slightly into a shouted exclamation rather than a straight-up scream. We do hear a rare blast-beat in this track, but the tone of the drums is not violent and combative; it’s almost bewildering and organic. Another of my favourite parts of the album kicks in at 5:34, where blurring guitar lead dominates the mix and sends me into a trance-like state. The riff that comes right after at about 6:20 is another banger. After listening to this short EP close to twenty times, the music never fails to hit me right in the gut (or in the feels if you prefer). It is so hard to say what exactly gives me this feeling, potentially a mixture of the mild tempo, rich harmony, warm reverb-drenched tones, and deranged vocals, but whatever it may be, I want more. The song ends with a classic vocalist cough. I always love to hear little bits of cuts that would traditionally be left out of the final mix but are left in to remind you that this music is made by humans. Disturbed humans, but humans, nonetheless.