Sometimes I think back to my baby metal phase – not the J-pop metal band, but when I was first exploring extreme metal in the mid-aughts, back when I was slack-jawed that anything could be heavier and wilder than Slayer. One of the first bands I gravitated toward was Dimmu Borgir, enough to buy a copy of Death Cult Armageddon and, uh, acquiring In Sorte Diaboli digitally another way. I found their older, more revered stuff like Stormbläst a little too abrasive, and still do to be honest, but the melody and symphonic power of that 2000s era? Hell yeah.
It’s times like that that really cultivated my tastes now, even if I’m very picky with my black metal these days. I found Valdrin with their last album, Throne of the Lunar Soul, and ate that shit up even though it was quite long. It was adventurous, spirited, RPG-like, and primal, but most of all, it was damn fun, a whole discography’s worth of lore to untangle from the minds of the writers (which I haven’t sat down to do yet, but I like that the offer’s on the table), like Coheed and Cambria for the real growl enjoyers in the audience. The band was beyond adept at forming a cool song first, rather than adhering to an aesthetic or charm first and backseating good writing and performance, but I guess that’s what you tend to get when you focus on melodic black metal, and it’s my favorite sub-subgenre of black metal as a result.
In my admittedly very narrow scope, I’d wager that Valdrin are among some of the best at this. This new EP (which is honestly a small LP at just short of 30 minutes) blisters the skin with its ripping pace and dank atmosphere – even the name Apex Violator vexes the good in your heart, if there’s any to be found. Fitting too, as this is the story of two eons-long adversaries, Valdrin Ausadjur and Nex Animus, clashing after centuries of celestial destruction and cosmic travel where Valdrin is possessed by Nex after the former reaches his holy kingdom in a bid to spread corruption and evil. Even for the uninitiated, all it takes is one listen to catch the heretical vibes of the story.
Each of this project’s five songs gestate and feed a primal evil with lung-collapsing drums, moaning symphonic synths, and caustic guitars that spray bile at a moment’s notice. Everything feels so honed and explosive, but not enough to overwhelm. In fact, it’s very much on the rails and that’s what makes it so good – a sense of clarity even among all the muck and density. You can always make out each instrument at any point. This is black metal made for dungeons and crypts where portals to beyond our realm sit propped open, miasma seeping through the cracks awaiting to fill space and turn it an inky black.
And as the genre promises, each song is festooned with cataclysmic melody, guitars carving out ample space to be heard, but symphonic elements lending an air of opulence and stature to the sound, almost like each seemingly disparate tone of music represents the characters Valdrin and Nex warring with each other for dominion. For as rugged and menacing as Valdrin can and do sound, there’s always a very slight cheekiness to it, not to betray its serious sci-fi story, but a nod of theatrics that much of black metal usually overdoses on. “Black Imperial Smoke” might be the best example of this as it employs choral vocals, massive drum lines, and regal synths that practically twinkle in elegance against the metallic barrage of the other instruments like blades of war clashing in the night. The intro will burn a hole in your stomach too.
For once, I’ll keep this review short and end it by saying Apex Violator is a delectably brilliant and violent step forward in the ruination that Valdrin have been building up for years now. Now more than ever is a great time to listen and get invested in the cosmic annals of Valdrin Ausadjur, even if it’s only for the riffs, and oh man, there are riffs. Whether you started with Dimmu Borgir decades ago like me, or have always scoffed at the existence of black metal entirely (I get it honestly), Valdrin are where lovers of musicianship, high-concept story, and dark atmosphere can all meet in the middle for a good-ass time.
