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Uulliata Digir stake their place in the avant-garde metal landscape in style with their self-titled debut.

Release date: January 10, 2025 | Independent | Bandcamp | Facebook

It’s hard getting into the listening mood for a new year sometimes, isn’t it? In the shadow of mad rushes to tidy up your Year End lists, as well as the holidays proper, sometimes you just need to unplug for a while and coast on comfort music. Invariably though, some new release is going to swing by that shakes you out of your slump, and remind you that, for whatever dreads a new year brings, there’s going to be some cool new music to find. Well, it finally happened for me, and I thank the brand-new band Uulliata Digir and their self-titled debut for that.

Hailing from Poland, Uulliata Digir left me impressed almost immediately when I first saw their name pop up in a metal chat and decided to give them a go. Sonically, they could probably be best described as avant-garde metal with a predilection to the experimental ends of black and death metal, with a bit of post- elements sprinkled in for good measure. Think bands like Gorguts or Imperial Triumphant as a possible reference. But vitally, Uulliata Digir is no pale imitation.

If anything, my favorite aspect of this debut album is just how sure-footed and unique Uulliata Digir is right from the start. Structuring the album as two monolithic tracks sandwiching a (relatively) shorter composition and two interludes, the band kicks things off in style with the sparse chords of “Myrthys”. Slowly, the band’s MO presents itself with the slow build of drums showcasing a tribal sensibility with roiling bass. Soon enough, the band deploys one of their key features by way of a trumpet cutting through the mix to lead the song forward. The use of trumpet throughout the album took my heart from the first listen, and it’s integrated perfectly throughout either as a lead through quieter moments or by underpinning bludgeoning violence.

As the song moves forward, vocals enter the picture, and with it comes the other key aspect that sets Uulliata Digir apart for me: the soaring vocal work of Julita Dąbrowska. Put simply, Dąbrowska’s performance across this album is massive, ranging from quiet croons to almost operatic highs, to moments of furious wailing that genuinely make the skin crawl. Balanced off the cavernous death growls, strained black metal shrieks, and ominous narrations of Michał Sosnowski, the vocal interplays throughout this album are just phenomenal and give the band an edge over so many other groups that aim down similar sonic directions.

Deeper into the album, the band’s well-measured ebb and flow provide an extremely balanced pace that never feels too sudden or breakneck despite going through massive dynamic shifts. “Myrthys” takes several minutes to build to pounding heaviness, and then backs off to a point where the song even stops entirely before coming back to life about two-thirds of the way in. Closer “Eldrvari” likewise takes its time building into one of the few genuine riffs to be heard on the album before cycling through a quieter section and returning to that same several minutes later after giving the trumpets plenty of time to shine. And if you’re not into monolithic tracks and sparse ambience, the band distills pretty much all their great heavy qualities into mid-album powerhouse “Omni Dirga”. Add in the two interludes which keep the atmosphere cohesive between tracks, and no single shift across Uulliata Digir feels too rough or sudden.

Likewise, the instrumental performance across this album shines just as bright as any of those more unique features mentioned earlier. The guitars are exploratory and very textural, eschewing most traditional features like riffs or solos save the aforementioned “Eldrvari” or the cool lead interplay with the trumpet late into “Omni Dirga”. Rather, it goes for heavier stabs or floating dissonant chords one might expect from a band like Voivod. The bass tends to feel more like a solid engine that pushes the compositions along, while the drums are exquisite in their jazzy prowess. A bit of sparse synth for flavoring, and there’s not a single element out of place.

As is par for the course, Uulliata Digir‘s approach won’t sit well for everyone. The band doesn’t trouble itself with conventional songwriting, and the stretches of quiet contemplation won’t do much when the listener is seeking something heavy. It’s fair to say the band’s sound resembles the rather striking cover art adorning the album; it looks really cool, but good luck parsing everything the first couple times you look at. Their sound is amorphous, ever changing, and quiet contemplation should be expected just as much as a jagged, angular pummeling. So, you know, listener be warned.

If you do love knotty avant-garde metal that doesn’t bother itself with verses and choruses though, I’d be hard-pressed to not recommend Uulliata Digir‘s debut to you. The thoughtful approach, great musicianship, masterful use of trumpet, and the excellent vocal performances assure that the album needs to be heard even on technical merit alone. But the band also just writes some excellent long-form compositions, that all feel like an entire journey on their own. Given that this is all happening on Uulliata Digir‘s debut just makes the whole experience even greater, and I’m damn well going to be hyped for what comes next from them. 2024 felt like a bumper year for avant-garde extremity, and with albums like Uulliata Digir leading the way, 2025 looks set to at least be great for that too.

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