Concordance
Varius
"Concordance" represents VARIUS at its most collaborative; each member of the band has brought a unique song to the table. The result is an EP defined by both its diversity and its consistency in spirit. Each of the album's four songs are rooted firmly in their own area of the metal spectrum, and they are as varied lyrically as they are musically. The album explores themes of battle, demonic magics, psychological challenges, and a bleak look at the future of death. The album contains four tracks.
"Golden Crown" leads off the album. It opens with clean guitars and a bit of a solemn tone. The vocals are harsh and deep. The music gets a little bit more complicated as the track rolls forward, but stays within the realm of traditional Metal. The bass work is well done. "Concordance of the Legionfall" begins with some eerie keys and then the assault is full-on. Some odd effects come in for just a spell, but the song is mostly dark, brooding and commanding. The interlude around the half-way mark creates some suspense, but so far the music is fairly unilateral.
"Lament of the Dissonance" opens with a more and expansive sound, combining some nifty drum runs with lead guitars and some keys. But from there, it settles into a linear groove again. The final minute is like a completely different song, with some dancing bass notes and a jovial sound. Transition to this a bit better and it might help the listener connect with the song more. "Gut Shoveler" closes the album. It opens with a similar heavy sound as the other tracks. It rolls forward with fervor and ends on some clean and melancholy guitar chords.
This Canadian band does a decent job of getting their message across on the EP, but I was perhaps overly excited when I saw on their Bandcamp page that they feature "experimental twists." There were only but a few, and they were short-lived. They clearly have the Death Metal side of things down pretty well, but a little more experimentation and perhaps some other instruments might mix things up a little better for them.
6 / 10
Had Potential
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Concordance" Track-listing:
1. Golden Crown
2. Concordance of the Legionfall
3. Lament of Dissonance
4. Gut Shoveler
Varius Lineup:
Joey Scaringi - Vocals
Patrick Forlin - Guitar
Joel Tassillo - Bass
Vladimir Prokhorov - Drums
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