Valdrin/Throne Of The Lunar Soul/Blood Harvest Records/2023 Full Length Review

 

  Ohio's  Valdrin  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  a  very  epic,  symphonic  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2023  album  "Throne  Of  The  Lunar  Soul"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Blood  Harvest  Records.

  Symphonic  sounding  keyboards  start  off  the  album  and  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  at  times.  Melodies  are  also  added  into  a  lot  of  the  guitar  riffing  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast b eats  can  be  heard  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  yet  high  pitched  sounding  black  emtal  screams. A  lot  of  the  album  is  also  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  classic  Swedish  style  along with  some  acoustic  guitars  and  clean  playing  also  being  utilized  at  times.

  Spoken  word  parts  are  also  added  on  a  couple  of  tracks   along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  as  well  as  the  album  also  mixing  in  a  lot  of  death  metal  elements,  clear  vocals  and  whispers  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  Ausadjur  Mythos. 

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Valdrin  and  if  you  are  a f an  od  epic,  melodic  and  symphonic  black  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Neverafter"  "Paladins  Of  Ausadjar"  "Holy  matricide"  and  "Two  Carrion  Talismans".  8out  of  10.

  

http://bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/throne-of-the-lunar-soul]

www.facebook.com/valdrinausadjur     

    

Valdrin/Effigy Of Nightmares/Blood Harvest/2020 Full Length Review

  Ohio's  Valdrin  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  continuing  the  melodic  and  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  from  their  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  album  "Effigy  of  Nightmares" which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Blood  Harvest.

  A  very  dark  and  synth  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  album  while  whispered  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction.  Symphonic  elements  are  also  utilized  at  times  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard.

  The  riffs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  Tremolo  picking  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  faster  riffing  along  with  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  the  music  also  have  a  decent  amount  of  90's  influences.

  Elements  of  melodic  death  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  recording  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  also  being  utilized  briefly.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are utilized  they  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  a  couple  of  tracks  also  introducing  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing,  acoustic  guitars  and  spoken  word  parts  onto  the  album  and  as  the  recording  progresses  whispered  vocals  also  return  briefly,  the  closing  track  is  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  continuing  their  own  mythos  and  story  of   Valdrin  Ausadjur.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Valdrin  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  symphonic  and  melodic  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Exsanguination  Tunnels"  and  "Down  The  Oubliette  Of  Maelstrom".  8  out  of  10.

http://bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/effigy-of-nightmares    

Valdrin Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Since recording the new album, we have continued playing live in as many places as we can. The band has been playing material from "Two Carrion Talismans"  live since about 2013 and overtime we've been filling our setlist with more material from this album. We are also constantly writing new music and becoming more obsessed with our current vision of where the band is going. Our second guitarist, Colton, joined the band in early 2016 and has added a lot to the current music we're working on.

2.You have a new album coming out in September, what are some of the things you feel you have done differently with this recording that you where not able to do with your previous release?

The first thing anyone would notice is that we have a real drummer now. Ryan has been a part of our history since we started, but unfortunately he wasn't a part of the band during the recording of our first album. He rejoined in 2013 and we haven't looked back since. We immediately began crafting the intense and hateful hymns that would end up on "Two Carrion Talismans," it was a great time creatively and I am proud of how truly unique and dark this album is. We wanted to create the most angry, and villainous album we possibly could, and I think we achieved it.

3.This is your first album since 2014, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time span?

Mostly what I explained above. Working on the music that would become "Two Carrion Talismans" and playing across the midwestern United States. We finished writing the music of "TCT" in 2015 and went into the studio early November of that year. The album took about a year to record, and about a year after that to get it out of the engineers hands and into the right hands to be mixed and mastered by our friend Dan Klein at Iron Hand Audio. We started talking to Blood Harvest Records about releasing the album at the end 2017, and here we are today. Unfortunately, life is tedious, and goals often take longer to achieve if you want to do them the right way. Nonetheless, Im confident that you wont have to wait another 4 years for the next Valdrin release.

4.The lyrics on the new recording are a concept album, can you tell us a little bit more about the story that was covered on this release?

All of our music is conceptual and part of the Ausadjur Mythos. The story's protagonist, Valdrin Ausadjur, is the root of which the whole story is based upon. "Beyond The Forest" (our debut album) was the beginning of his story, which will most likely be a trilogy of albums. "Two Carrion Talismans" is a prequel to the events of that album, and is the only album we will create that is solely dedicated to the Antagonist, Nex Animus. This story begins at the end of his earthly life, in a prehistoric period of mankind, and his post-mortal creation of the dark netherworld known as the Orcus, where the events of "Beyond The Forest" later take place. Without revealing too much, I will say that this story accounts for centuries of rule over the Orcus, and the journey to his enlightenment, where he discovers a way to create armageddon and survive it. What ends up taking place on "Beyond The Forest" is a result of this conspiracy, and it leads to Nex being able to destroy the triad of worlds in which Earth is the fulcrum and escape into the universe. Valdrin - the pawn for his scheme - escapes as well. One day we'll see what happens next.

5.Your lyrics also have a lot of occult themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in Occultism?

We all have an interest in the Occult to varying degrees. However, I want to stress that we are not an occult band. Our music is a story, a concept, a mythology of our own creation. The 'Ausadjur Mythos' is informed by many ancient religions, mythologies, occult practices and basically is a synthesis of all spiritual concepts from the past, and sees humans as the creators of this spiritual energy. The afterworlds we've created: The Aurae (the light world) and The Orcus (the dark world) are channelled through a conduit within mankind that we call The Spirit Genome. This is more or less the DNA of the soul, that was created in prehistoric times from a great conflict that we call 'Junnatox'.

These are examples of how our music might appear occult, but it isn't. We aren't giving guides to esoteric rituals or anything like that, we are entirely based within our own concept.


6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Valdrin'?

It has no inherit meaning. We thought we made the name up, but it turns out its an Albanian name commonly used for both men and women. It translates to something like 'wave.' But it is simply the name of our protagonist, and any other connections could only have been made after the fact. His surname, Ausadjur, is where all the meaning lies.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is on the album cover?

The album cover features the antagonist, Nex Animus. What you see on the cover is a concept of duality. In this instance it is the perceived self, and the actual self. It represents what we consider to be the archetypes of all villainous, antagonist characters. In the foreground, you see a haggard, feeble old man who bares the scars from his past and his own inner anguish, but in the reflection you see a grandiose evil tyrant, who exists only to conquer and destroy. This is the dichotomy of evil: that which is made into evil through a real or perceived injustice, and that which is purely evil and wishes to destroy for no reason but to create suffering. The concept of duality is also reflected in the album title, "Two Carrion Talismans." These talismans are in the eyes of the Ausadjur sword on the cover.

The artwork was done by an amazing artist and friend named Lucas Ruigerri and he did an amazing job at bringing this concept to life.

8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We've enjoyed them all in different ways. Some that stick out are when we played with Zemial in Lexington, KY or the two times we've shared the stage with Incantation in our hometown of Cincinnati. Taking part in the Blood Of The Wolf festivals I-III in Lexington (put on by our allies in Tombstalker and the Wolven Brotherhood) were all great moments. Playing in cities like Richmond, VA, and Philadelphia, PA we're also very rewarding experiences. We'll play anywhere that wants us. We hope to play more across the US and hopefully in Europe in the future.

9.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

We definitely have plans to play in as many cities as possible once the album is released. When we have our copies, we'll hit the road and see what happens.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and death metal?

Its been great, honestly. Sometimes people aren't sure wether to call us black metal or death metal, and that is interesting to watch what people label us. Nonetheless, there seems to be people out there who are really catching on to what we are doing, and some of these people are reading into the lyrics and the story, and getting very into the concept. This is the greatest reward we could ever receive. It doesn't matter if its 10 fans or 10,000.....if someone gets it, then we don't feel entirely alone. Our music, after-all, is a complete escape from this garbage world, and is a way for us to create a place to inhabit that is infinitely more interesting than this boring place we've been born into.

11.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Colton's band Lucis Absentia are currently on hiatus from playing live. I believe they'll be back one day and they'll continue making great metal music. They recently released a full length album called "Gehenna Gate" and its doing very well. I did a demo with a close friend of mine around 2016 with a band called Grim Feast. The demo did well and garnered some good press. Its mostly a project though, maybe one day we'll do an album. Ryan composes a lot of music on his own time for himself, and so does James. For the moment though, we've all had a tunnel vision focus on our current direction with this. Every member has contributed greatly to what is coming in the future.

12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I see the music getting a lot darker and more haunting. The new songs reflect a lot of hatred, fear, misanthropy, and terrifying visions from nightmares. I don't want to give any information on where the story is going, but I will say that this will be the music of bloodred nightmares and haunting, isolated torture.

13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Some of the bands/musicians that influenced us to find our own identity were stuff like: Bathory, Peste Noire, Dissection, The Chasm, Xasthur Leviathan, Mutiilation, Morbid Angel, Windir, Manes, Order From Chaos, as well as the compositions of Nobuo Uematsu. Nowadays I've been listening to a lot of different stuff like Abigor, Katharsis, Dawn, Endless Dismal Moan, Judas Iscariot, Thergothon, Lycia, Belketre. As far as new bands, I've been obsessed with some of the current black metal coming from Sweden, stuff like Azelisassath, Grav, Ganipahalan, Beketh Nexehmu and more.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thanks for the interview! We appreciate everyone's support for our music worldwide. Hope you all enjoy "Two Carrion Talismans."

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Valdrin/Two Carrion Talismans/Blood Harvest Records/Helter Skelter Productions/2018 CD Review

  Valdrin  are  a  band  from  Ohio  that  plays  a  melodic  and  symphonic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Two Carrion  Talismans"  which  will  be  released  in  September  as  a  joint  effort  by  Blood  Harvest  Records  and  Helter  Skelter  Productions.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  melodic  direction  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  as  well as  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  synths  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  symphonic  feeling  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  parts  also  being  used  at  times.

  Death  metal  growls  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  classical  guitars  can  also  be  heard  on  a  couple  of  tracks  along  with  the  recording  closing  with  a  track  that  is  all  instrumental.

  Valdrin  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  symphonic  in  the  90's  tradition  while  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  influences,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  various  ancient  mythologies  and  occult  practices  seen  through  the  eyes  of  the  protagonist  Valdrin  Ausadjur.

  In  my  opinion  Valdrin  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic  and  melodic  mixture  of  black  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Junnatox"  "Funeral  Tides  Of  Orcus"  and  "Crimson  Blades  Valdrin  Ausadjur".  8  out  of  10. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc75OL7SFf4&feature=youtu.be

  

Valdrin/Beyond The Forest/Blast Head Records/2013 CD Review

  Valdrin  are  a  band  from  Ohio  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  symphonic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Beyond  The  Forest"  which  was  released  by  Blast  Head  Records.

  Nature  sounds  and  bells  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  distortion  and  whispers  a  few  seconds  later  along  with  some  avant  garde  sounding  pianos  which  lead  up  to  symphonic  sounding  synths  starting  to  kick  in.

  After  the  intro  the  music  goes into  a  more  fast  black  metal  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  as  well  as  adding  in  grim  vocals  and  atmospheric  elements  along  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  thrash  and  death metal  influences  being  a  huge  part  of  the  guitar  riffing  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  when  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  they  bring  a  folk  and  progressive  feeling  to  the  album  along  with  a  good  amount  of  classical  guitars  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  and  talented  sounding  guitar  solos.

  The  synths  bring  in  the  symphonic  black  metal  elements  and  they  are  more  close  to  the  90's  side  of  the  genre  and  there  is  also  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  being  utilized  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  on  some  of  the  later  tracks  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls  are  utilized  while  the  main  focus  is  still  more  on  the  black  metal  vocals  and  the  album  is  very  diverse  in  sound  while  also  remaining  heavy  most  of  the  time.

  Valdrin  bring  back  the  90's  symphonic  and  black  metal  sound s of  the  90s  to  create  an  album   that  is  very  old  school  yet  very  heavy  all  at  the  same  time  along  with  elements  of  thrash  and  brutal  death  metal,  the  production  is  very  professional  sound  and  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  supernatural  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Valdrin  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  symphonic  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Beyond  The  Forest"  "Impaled  Visions  Breed  Within  The  Vines"  "Come  Forth"  and  "Forgotten  Souls".  8/5  out  of  10.

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