Unholy Lightness Summer
Vardan
•
September 10, 2018
The Italian brings out his 4th release this year, following on from: Nostalgia - Archive of Failures - Part IV, Part V and VI in January; and the Serial Demo I in March. Once more keeping the track quantity low, the length and quality high. The clear feel of isolation which VARDAN uses as a musical theme in previous works is clear here from the beginning of "Part I". The drum beat is fairly upbeat for this genre, which we have heard previously from genre-piers HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY. The melody is simple, it twists the mind gently with its atmospheric beauty. The deranged screams add a different level to the song. The use of electronics midway through the song does add a DEPECHE MODE style of ambience to the song, as the drums continue to tick over nicely. The song is peaceful and will easily mellow out the listener. Not throwing out too many tricks straight away, but going with what is known, and what works.
"Part II" takes the pace into the opening; the deranged screams are once again accompanying the melody. The melody pace is tranquil again, with a great mellow feel. There is more emphasis on vocals to start here, along with a keyboard working faster than before to allow a different blend, keeping the songs different, but effective. The sway of the melody is almost hypnotic. If anyone opens a Black Metal massage parlor, this needs to be on the playlist. The balance is working exceptionally well. As a one-man project he works to hos own strengths and allows full passion to flow through this song majestically. The beat picks up a few times through out to bring in a new shade of darkness to the song, the full usage of instruments is brilliant.
"Part III" returns to the overall feel and tempo that we heard in "Part I". The keyboard features heavily at the start of the song to build up an ambience unlike we have heard, its his own styles, less like bands mentioned before. This song has less emphasis on vocals and really allows the melody to run away with itself, changing direction several times, effectively. VARDAN clearly had a vision for this album, it didn't change drastically through the songs, but worked very well.
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Unholy Lightness Summer" Track-listing:
1. Unholy Lightless Summer Pt. I
2. Unholy Lightless Summer Pt. II
3. Unholy Lightless Summer Pt. III
Vardan Lineup:
Vardan - All Instruments and Vocals
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