WODE is a black metal band hailing from England, who formed in 2010.  "Burn In Many Mirrors," is their third full length album; they also released a demo in 2011. I've heard their name before but this is my first exposure to their music.  I am immediately taken aback by their stunning musicianship.  By the end of the first track, it is immediately clear that WODE are heads and shoulders above much of the blackened world, especially in terms of song writing and composition.

During the six track, thirty-nine minute runtime, my ears were treated to songs that have many layers and just a ton of depth to explore.  The album's length finds the sweet spot for repeated listens and the songs themselves call for that as well.  It isn't so much that the music is progressive or complicated but instead the songs  just being very well put together.  WODE have written songs that are heavy, fast, searing, and any other adjective one could use to describe black metal but they have shoved these extreme musical weapons inside songs with real meaning and purpose.  Each song has just what it needs to be great, no more not less. Rather than being full of excess or even too much of a minimalist approach, the songs are individual adventures that compliment the greater whole.

The opening track "Lunar Madness," starts off with energetic drums that play off the riffs so well that is it clear the members of the band are very comfortable with each other and share the same goals within the song.  By the coming of the first minute and a half, the song settles into a nice groove boosted in part by the frighteningly excellent yet depraved vocal delivery.  I love how when the song doubles down in intensity, the lead guitar adds another layer to the concoction.

A mighty roar pierces the veil of hardened riffs on "Serpent's Coil," where the guitars and the outstanding bass get a chance to roam around the song, filling every space with musical ideas such as a guitar solo that smoothly comes through the chaos and even some groove that pushes the song's intensity to the next level even while setting it up for the changes in the song.  The leads add some very welcome sense of adventure and exploration, something black metal needs a lot of. This song is a strong showcase for the album as a whole, telling the listener how such a dark and chaotic thing as black metal can have music that seems to have a natural flow and spatial awareness within itself...every instrument works so goddamn well with each other.

"Vanish Beneath," takes the immediacy that previously permeated the album and pulls it back a notch in favor of rising action, that is no less harrowing or effective.  The song is so well versed in bringing in layers and different pieces as time passes.  The lead guitar begins it all and then the rhythms, bass, and drums follow behind, building this monumental track.  Around the 1:53 minute mark, it goes full tilt and the bottom falls out, dropping acid rain on the landscape below.  A thick, mid paced riff machine replaces the intro and parts of the song sound like your ears are following down the rabbit hole, a little dissonance goes a long way here.

The final track is all three parts of "Streams of Rapture," and it ends the album as an epic, engrossing experience that needs to be heard by all fans of extreme metal.   The opening moments are synth like and even a little theatrical but not overly bombastic.  My heart actually started pumping harder in anticipation of what would follow and I wasn't disappointed.  The next segment of the song is a special kind of rage, one that is seething and hateful but so laser focused that you can do nothing but stare in awe even as it destroys you.  The blackened screams are monstrous and not all human.  At the 3:29, the guitar has a swirling little counter melody that ups the insanity level even has the songs continues to descend into darkness.  Near the six minute mark, the tempo drops and the band just throws out crushing moment after crushing moment.  Later, WODE even finds a way to inject melody that doesn't take away any of the intensity set up thus far but instead more to it as the song fades out in all its darkened glory.

WODE's "Burn In Many Mirrors," is an impressive of an album as any I've heard this year and any fan of black, death or extreme metal would be doing themselves a huge disservice but not giving this one the attention it deserves.