Year of release: 2018
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Rating: 8,4 / 10
True Ingrian Black Metal Death bands have always seemed to me somehow alienated from the rest of the Russian scene. Perhaps this is the reason that they have achieved some success abroad. KHASHM made a serious miscalculation, having released their albums at More Hate twice in a row, but this did not prevent them from finally getting to Iron Bonehead and realizing the potential of their music. The early history of ULVDALIR flowed away from the eyes and ears of the local population - the group began working with German labels from the very first steps, and now it is also on Iron Bonehead. Many, including myself, learned about ULVDALIR only because of the not very convincing "Metal Wolves of Death" split, released on Assavlt in 2011.
The influence that the Swedish Black Metal scene on behalf of WATAIN has had on ULVDALIR is hard to overestimate. The “biker” image, the cult of Death and the Devil, music, in the end - it is obvious that all this was done with an eye to WATAIN and some other representatives of the religious Black Metal movement. But while WATAIN slowly deviated from the chosen course towards rock and roll, ULVDALIR continued to work confidently, to forge their Black Metal of the highest grade. “... of Death Eternal” is a success; this is a very serious, deep thing. The album combines professionalism and genuine infernal fuse. The belief of musicians in what they play and what they sing about is beyond doubt, as well as their skills. In an interesting way, ULVDALIR manages to weave an extremely rich musical canvas from the simplest riffs in the vein of early DARKTHRONE. Yes, if you dig deeper, it turns out that guitar parts are much closer to DARKTHRONE than to BATHORY, on which the entire fashionable Swedish scene is built. They are quite primitive, but the ingenious drum parts constantly delay attention, and as a result you get the impression that you have heard far from everything, so you should definitely return to the album one more time. Typically Swedish thick and atmospheric sound (even if made at a Serbian studio) gives the music an extra dimension. Finally, a vocal consisting of an obsessed roar (not a squeal) and pure-voiced parts makes its contribution to the increase in dynamics. All this creates a very convincing sense of religious frenzy that pervades the album from top to bottom.
I can't talk much about such albums, so it's time to wrap up. It remains to add that Varagian from DO SKONU, Phaesphoros (ALL MY SINS, ex-KAWIR, TERRORHAMMER) and Chaoswind from SATURNIAN MIST took part in the recording as guests. The circulation of the disc is 500 copies (I think repress will come soon), there is also a vinyl version.