Vama Magra
Adversvm
From Bandcamp, "Vama Marga" speaks in tongues with doomish, blazing and epic soundscapes to the infernal regions of the heart. ADVERSVM's magnum opus to date invokes 10 anthems of left-hand-path apotheosis, Nietzscheism and traditional Satanic power...creeping with shadowy cold darkness, atmospheric interludes collide with utterly crushing and mesmerizing Death/Doom metal. "Vama Marga" is an atmospheric journey from slow depths to raging fires and back into the icy abyss of the soul." The album has ten songs.
The album follows a patter consisting of a short song followed by a lengthy one. "Exordium" has beautiful sounds with just a bit of tension in the air. By contrast, "Emanation" has a cavernous, deep sound, with a slow moving riff and utterly horrid vocals. At any minute, you feel like you might be swallowed by it. But the music is not without melody. Indeed, the backing elements and clean guitars bring a touch of it to the otherwise dark and evil sound. "Sinistrum" is a five minute song that burns tread marks coming out of the gate. It soon slows to a desperate pace. "Parinama" is another short song that showcases the bands diversity. Ten crushing doom songs would really be hard on the ears...instead, the band rounds out the album with these sort of tense keyboard numbers.
"Feind" is just that...a worth adversary who never seems to run out of ways of tracking you down to try to end you. The tone of the song is very heavy, and angry at times. During the mid-section, there is a brief reprieve, but the stealthy assassin always finds you. "Antisphere's" mood is very dark and tense. While the sound is kept to a minimum, its silence speaks volumes. "V.O.A.D." has a deep sound that rumbles with the silent death of a black hole in space. But again, the music is not without some creepy melodies that just flavor the album. "Retrograde" is a final mood setter to the lengthy epic "Vindex." The weight of this song is so heavy, it borrows into the earth and settles in hell, and as a listener, you can feel your life slowly fading as it lingers on.
"Mölingssken" closes the album, and talk about tension...it hangs in the air like a thick cloud of smoke, and the bells sound like ticking heartbeats warning you of danger. Overall, this album was as deep and expansive as it was interesting. The shorter songs augment the sound of heavy, punishing gutturals and enough evil to chase Satan from his lair. The description in the intro paragraph is dead on.
8 / 10
Excellent
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Vama Magra" Track-listing:
1. Exordium
2. Emanation
3. Sinistrum
4. Parinama
5. Feind
6. Antisphere
7. V.O.A.D.
8. Retrograde
9. Vindex
10. Mölingssken
Adversvm Lineup:
Sascha Borchard - Guitars, Vocal
Jessica Borchard - Bass
Fabian Guschlbauer - Guitars
Jörg Uken - Drums
Don Zaros - Keyboards
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