Ildverden are a solo project from Ukraine that has been featured before in this zine and plays a pagan form of black metal and this is a review of his 2025 album "Thou Not Shalt" which was released as a joint effort between Satanath Records, Wine And Fog and More Hate Productions.
Clean playing and dark soundscapes start off the album before going into a heavier direction while the slower sections of the songs also add in elements of doom metal. When synths are utilized they also add in some atmospheric touches while all of the musical instruments also have a very powerful sound to them.
When the music speeds up a great amount of tremolo picking and blast b eats can be heard which also gives the recording more of a raw feeling. Vocals are mostly grim sounding black metal screams mixed in with some clear pagan metal singing and some of the tracks are also very long and epic in length.
Throughout the recording you can also hear a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with some spoken words also being used on a few songs, when guitar leads are finally utilized they are also done in a very melodic style and elements of black'n;roll are added into the mid tempo sections of the album. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover Paganism, Nihilism, Existential Philosophy and detachment from from what is happening and exists, reflections and regrets.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Ildverden and if you are a fan of pagan black metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Sullen Enchantment" "Sewn Shut" "The Storm Id Coming" and "Fucking Hell (Part II)". 8 out of 10.
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat408-ildverden-thou-not-shalt-2025

No comments:
Post a Comment