Vredensdal – Sonic Devotion to Darkness Review

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Have I already told that in some way record companies agree on a date to release their records? Well, I don’t know. Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t, but whatever this a hidden secret fact of the life of recording companies that we with Metal Addicts reveal to you my dear child of the night. Is it a true honor or not? I guess it is. Now, no kidding. We’ve just reviewed Old Forest with Sutwyke and their Modern Black Metal outfit and here we have Vredensdal with “Sonic Devotion to Darkness” – wow, what a cool name for an album – another Black Metal band. The truth is that even though both bands are consired Black Metal acts, both are very dissimilar from each other. While Old Forest made a blend of Modern Black Metal with other Metal features to sound most of the time as Thrash Metal or Death Metal, Vredensdal are a hodgepodge of modern features. The cool thing about both is that both bands managed to have all tracks very different from each other delivering the fan a very varied form of Black Metal features.

It’s really interesting how ands decide to open up their albums. “Between Worlds (Intro)” is long for an intro or it could be considered just a track from the album. The problem with that “Between Worlds Intro” is very differenr from anything “Sonic Devotion to Darkness” whatsoever. In a cold and direct analysis the track sounds as if it were from a Beatles’ album. Yeah, right. That’s the impression I got from it. Though, I guess no Black Metal band will consciently deliver a track inspired on Beatles’. My dear fan who knows The Beatles please rise up. Ok, I’m talking about impressions. Another thing that called my attention is the guitar solo due to the use of the Whah pedal in some tracks as in “The Eye in the Well” and its overtones that are not usual. Well, I appreciate a lot the overtones guitarist Goblin Reaper uses here. As a common ground with other bands it’s the vocal full of despair and desolation so common these days. Another common feature is the use of some theatrical or vaudeville sonic experiences in the songs. This has been very common to the Black Metal bands I’ve been reviewing in a while.

Balancing all the features common and uncommon “Sonic Devotion to Darkness” is an album that will please both hardcore Black Metal fans and newcomers. Well, this is great for me if you ask me. Not easy to please these crowds as they are simetrically dissimilar. As aforementioned mentioned up there in this review both Old Forest “Sutwyke” and Vredensdal “Sonic Devotion to Darkness” are from the same recording company.

Vredensdal “Sonic Devotion to Darkness” will be released on March 31st via Soulseller Records.

Track Listing:

  1. Between Worlds (Intro)
  2. The Chaos Rite
  3. The Eye in the Well
  4. Nightgrasp
  5. Sonic Devotion to Darkness
  6. Cyclical Despondancy
  7. Svøpt I Blod
  8. My Right to the Throne
  9. Eyes Glowing Black

Watch “The Eye in the Well” official music video here:

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