WEREWOLF RECORDS is proud to present the highly anticipated third album of Finland's VARGRAV, The Nighthold, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
From the dawn of the classic debut album, Netherstorm,
in 2018, Finland's VARGRAV have almost single-handedly reinvigorated
the oft-maligned symphonic black metal subgenre. Forged in fires from
the ancients - founder V-Khaoz's credentials are vast and stretch back
decades - and stoking the embers last left by Obtained Enslavement and
Norway's Covenant and Odium, VARGRAV's two albums to date stand as proud
pillars of shimmering, classics-based obsidian.
As momentous as those two full-lengths have been, VARGRAV arguably eclipse both with their third album, The Nighthold.
With a lineup that now includes the notorious Graf Werwolf von
Armageddon on vocals and Moonsorrow members Trollhorn of the Black
Harvest on guitars/bass and Baron M. Tarwonen on drums, VARGRAV's
swirling, cosmic surge has never been more potent; their attack is both
sharper and dreamier, crystal-clear and opaque simultaneously. That
added clarity creates more immediacy as The Nighthold kicks in,
for the aggression of old is kicked into overdrive here and the synths
take on a truly orchestral aspect. It's not for nothing that the album
is a full hour in length: everything here sounds (and feels) HUGE, one
massive velvety purple landscape of stained-glass visions as far as the
third eye can see. And all 12 tracks are threaded together in a
plausibly cinematic manner; while each is mighty in its own respective
right, VARGRAV sequence every song with artistic flair and high drama,
concluding the immersive experience with a daresay-soulful guitar solo
during the coda of "Creator of the True Realm" that then segues into the
nearly-10-minute big-screen instrumental "Ghostlands." What film or
filmic realm one enters into (or leaves) is entirely up to the
listener...The Nighthold is boundless!
It is thus not unjust to liken this achievement to Covenant's classic Nexus Polaris. The second era of VARGRAV has hereby begun with The Nighthold!
VARGRAV (FI) - The Nighthold 2LP gold vinyl
- Brand: Werewolf Rex
- Product Code: LP
- Availability: In Stock
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33.00€