Sylvanshine – The Offering Review

By Killjoy

The contrast of opposites is fundamentally important in art, and Sylvanshine is an apt name to illustrate this principle. As I just learned from Wikipedia, “Sylvanshine is an optical phenomenon in which dew-covered foliage with wax-coated leaves retroreflect beams of light, as from a vehicle’s headlights. This effect sometimes makes trees appear snow-covered at night during summer.” Fittingly, Ion Ureche’s blackgaze project from Bucharest, Romania, deals with opposing themes, specifically “love and loss, hope and desperation.” Not exactly uncommon themes in blackgaze, but how clearly does Sylvanshine’s debut full-length album portray them?

The Offering oscillates fluidly between the “black” and the “gaze” at a moment’s notice. Crystalline post-black tremolo riffs shimmer and dance to and fro, intertwined with distorted guitar chords and blast beats. The dreamier guitarwork is not unlike that of Alcest’s debut Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde, with plenty of Shelter-era influence also thrown in the mix. What sets Sylvanshine apart from many of its blackgaze peers is the heavy reliance on delicate acoustic guitar plucking and strumming in the vein of early Slowdive. There are three tracks entirely dedicated to this instrument, and it features prominently in the bridges of several others to counterbalance the moody aggression with an intimate touch.

It’s clear that Ureche is a guitarist first and foremost.1 The Offering’s crisp, clear, and poignant lead guitar lines are where the emotional duality alluded to in the promo material shines. The ringing, sorrowful melodies in “Cri de Coeur” and “Rebirth” grow more hopeful as the songs progress, like sunlight breaking through cloudy fissures. If the vocals were similarly expressive, Sylvanshine would be onto something special. They remind me of Sergio Catalán’s deep growls in Winds of Tragedy, but, unfortunately, with more croak than roar. At best, they sound flat (“The Moon and Stars Above,” “Cri de Coeur”) and, at worst, they clash with the guitars (“The Offering”). To his credit, Ureche plays to his strengths by allocating the majority—if not entirety—of each song to instrumental performances.

However, this songwriting decision could have benefited from further refinement in execution. This is particularly true of the tracks that are solely instrumental. It would have been fine to start the album with one acoustic track (“Dirge for a Love”), but the placement of another (“Nothing Will Ever Be the Same”) immediately after the first proper song, “Cri de Coeur,” causes a major pacing stumble. The acoustic guitar bouquet “Reverie” that later follows is gorgeous, but repeats for too long and should have either been fleshed out or trimmed. By the time 5-minute closer “Rebirth” rolls around, instrumental fatigue has set in. Some of the other short songs, “Running from Myself” and “The Offering,” show promise but feel disjointed and underdeveloped. The latter briefly dips into gothic territory midway through, with darker riffs and a haunting organ which sounds slightly out of context here, but the style could fit Sylvanshine very well given more time and attention.

Sylvanshine has all the makings of a young artist in the process of finding his voice, both figuratively and literally. Ion Ureche has a natural talent for composing and performing guitar melodies that mirror the ever-changing spectrum of human emotion. That said, further vocal training—or the addition of a more practiced vocalist—would do wonders for the project. He also has room to grow as a songwriter, and I get the sense that his skill ceiling is high. The Offering is a respectable debut album, but improvement in these main areas will help Sylvanshine to truly stand out amongst the crowd.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Release
Websites: sylvanshine.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sylvanshineMusic
Releases Worldwide: May 23rd, 2025

#25 #2025 #Alcest #BlackMetal #Blackgaze #May25 #PostBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #RomanianMetal #SelfRelease #Shoegaze #Slowdive #Sylvanshine #TheOffering #WindsOfTragedy

Vokodlok – The Egregious Being Review

By Kenstrosity

Hailing from Romania and dealing in Transylvanian mythology, Vokodlok began life as a raw black metal band. Their debut, Mass Murder Genesis, represented that genre in all its sonic roughness, featuring guitar tones worthy only of magnetic tape, a bona fide trash can lid snare, and croaking rasps galore. Shortly after that debut dropped, Vokodlok called it quits until reforming in 2018 with a slightly restructured lineup. But that’s not the only thing that’s transformed since their rebirth. What alchemic concoctions lay in store for this latest incarnation of Vokodlok? Only this sponge can tell, as I dive deep into sophomore outing The Egregious Being.

What once was true blue raw black is now but a ghost. 2025 sees Vokodlok exploring a starkly different sound, sharing much more in kind with death and thrash metal, although still dusted in cold soot. In the spirit of this metamorphosis, The Egregious Being hones in on fast-paced, chunky riffs and thrashy rhythms. Vokodlok’s production shifted to reflect this updated style, warming up considerably—certainly enough to defrost the ice draping from those trem-heavy leads of olde and allow the hellish flame of death to bloom anew. Yet, much of this material retains a level of rawness that belies Vokodlok’s shapeshifting instincts, permitting listeners a window into these Romanians’ past selves and highlighting significant character development in not just their sound but also their songwriting.

This character development showcases Vokodlok’s versatility as musicians while still exhibiting a distinct voice that sets them apart from other bands in this space. Strong cuts such as “The Human,” “Death Terror,” “Bestiarium,” and “jagh ‘lw vlpoQ” explore that voice, but also apply tasteful notes of Death, Úlfúð, Eximperitus, Immolation, and Cell to ground listeners on familiar territory. Whether that influence takes the form of a swaggering lean (“jagh ‘lw vlpoQ”), a ripping classic death metal solo (“Death Terror”), riffs that straddle the fence between styles (“The Human”), or a multifaceted songwriting structure forged from the annals of black, death, and thrash metal combined (“Warzone,” “Bestiarium,” “Denizen”), The Egregious Being thrives on adapting touchstones of multiple disciplines in synchronized unity with their own creativity. More melodic cuts like “The Faces Within” further enliven the experience in its light-footed agility through more exuberant musicality, but it’s never so jubilant or expressive as to create distance between that and their darker, moodier pieces (“The Monster,” “Disdain”).

If there was one aspect of Vokodlok’s songwriting that pulls the material down, it’s their penchant for repetition and ungentle transitions. Blunt force constitutes the majority of these songs’ movements between themes, riffs, and verses. Some tracks, like “The Faces Within” and “Death Terror,” smooth these out a bit more and thereby create fluidity without compromising extremity. However, abrupt and, at times, jarring moments create an unpleasant roughness to this ride that never threaten enjoyment, but sometimes immersion (“Denizen”). Of course, this isn’t helped by the odd production, personified by a weird mix of warm, modern, and murky tones. Not altogether disruptive or bothersome, a handful of motifs across the record seem notably simplistic or overly repetitive in relation to others. While this in and of itself doesn’t warrant much concern, considering Vokodlok’s high level of quality across the board, it creates a disconnect from more intricately constructed or richly layered compositions. In those instances where a single track represents both sides of this dichotomy, any such rift between one moment and another poses the greatest threat to my enjoyment (“Disdain”).

Overall, The Egregious Being is a pleasant and quite unexpected surprise. Where I had every reason to anticipate something raw, ragged, and sloppy (on purpose), I instead received something fresh, well-developed, and mature. The Egregious Being may not be a perfect record, but it does illustrate a willingness to evolve and grow into something more unique, more substantial, and altogether more engaging. If this is just the beginning for Vokodlok, then the future is bright!

Rating: Very Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Self Release
Websites: vokodlok.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/VokodloK-1429971080417504
Releases Worldwide: March 14th, 2025

#2025 #35 #BlackMetal #Cell #Death #DeathMetal #Eximperitus #Immolation #Mar25 #Review #Reviews #RomanianMetal #SelfRelease #TheEgregiousBeing #ThrashMetal #Úlfúð #Vokodlok

New episode! Listen: https://linktr.ee/pctd/

REEK OF DEATH [Death/Thrash Metal; Austria] - https://reekofdeath.bandcamp.com/
AVULSED [Death Metal; Spain] - https://avulsed.bandcamp.com/
CHÜZO [Aggro Metal; Canada] - https://chuzomtl.bandcamp.com/
KATHAREIN [Heavy Metal; Romania] - https://open.spotify.com/artist/41FLI0NFbPz2t3RLREfGfS

#reekofdeath #thrashmetal #deathmetal #austrianmetal
#avulsed #spanishmetal
#chuzo #canadianmetal
#katharein #romanianmetal
#metalpodcast

Sur Austru – Datura Strǎhiarelor Review

By Twelve

Sur Austru was an exciting find for me back in 2021. Their sophomore full-length Obârșie is a stunning display of mystical, folky black metal that is as evocative as it is unique. I still return to it often, so I was naturally very excited to learn that the group, originally formed in 2018 following the tragic passing of Gabriel Mafa (Negură Bunget, from where much of the rest of the band hails), is releasing a third full-length called Datura Strǎhiarelor (“The Gift of Scarecrows”), to carry on the unique and bright torch that is Romanian black metal. But Datura Strǎhiarelor is a much different beast from its predecessor—could it be that’s actually a good thing?

All of the hallmarks of Sur Austru’s sound are present on Datura Strǎhiarelor—heavy guitars, haunting flutes, and lyrics in Romanian, both sung and growled. The album’s concept, written by Călin Miclauș, focuses on the end of the world as told in Romanian mythology. The language is gorgeous and works well with the music to tell the story, even for an audience that largely, I would imagine, can’t understand the story. Across the album’s longer songs (“Cele Brune,” “Ispravirea”), this sense of storytelling comes alive in the best possible way, and it’s here that Sur Austru is at their most familiar, and their most powerful. Similarly, “Stransura” is classic Sur Austru, with lush drumming, ethereal keys, and an epic, haunting feel that builds throughout the whole before introducing an awesome lead on flutes to close the track. In this way, Datura Strǎhiarelor feels like a natural and powerful successor to Obârșie.

What’s different about Datura Strǎhiarelor is its significantly more progressive feel compared to Sur Austru’s contemporaries and previous releases, and that it is only really a black metal album in its dark and atmospheric feel. No one told drummer Beni Ursulescu about that though—throughout, his drumming is lush and complex, breathing liveliness into the record and fighting for that categorization. Aside from this, there’s the occasional tremolo, as on “Farmacarea,” where the guitars and woodblock (Călin Puticiu) work very well together, and of course Tibor Kati’s harsh vocals are strong, but that’s really about it. Instead, flutes and keys from Ionut Cadariu dominate, with heavy support from Ovidiu Corodan’s bass (which sounds amazing, by the way). On “Cele Bune,” every element of Sur Austru’s extensive sound bank works together gorgeously, but with a greater emphasis on feel, story, and melody than riffs, tremolos, or other traditionally black metal elements. The result is a sound that treads a line between progressive, folk, and black metal, with guitars just high enough in the mix to create impact without taking away from everything else going on.

As a result, Datura Strǎhiarelor becomes an album that thrives or stalls based on its flow. The performances and songwriting are very strong, but over the course of the fifty-four-minute whole, there are some moments that shine noticeably brighter than others. “Cele Rele,” for example, makes an earnest effort to be a “heavy” song, but doesn’t succeed in creating momentum. It has good moments, especially the flute section towards the end, but isn’t very memorable, even with six minutes of stuff inside it. Further, towards the end of the album, there are a lot of songs that sound like they should be the end of the album—the ambient outros in “Cele Bune” and “Afurisirea,” the epic build that opens “Imparecherea,” and the awesome build that actually does close out the album in “Ispravirea.” This, along with the fact that the album’s two interlude tracks are both passed by track four, creates an illusion that Datura Strǎhiarelo is longer than it actually is.

The good news is that the album’s trajectory moves between exceptional and “just” good. Throughout Datura Strǎhiarelor, Sur Austru demonstrate that they are fully attuned with their own sound, and are superb performers and songwriters in a musical style that feels fresh and new (at least outside of their native Romania). Despite some stalling throughout, Datura Strǎhiarelor shows a promising direction for the band; it is a very good example of how to do storytelling in metal, and how to make the listener feel. I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Avantgarde Music
Websites: avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/datura-str-hiarelor | facebook.com/SurAustruOfficial
Releases Worldwide: August 30th, 2024

#2024 #35 #Aug24 #AvantgardeMusic #BlackMetal #DaturaStrǎhiarelor #FolkMetal #NeguraBunget #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #RomanianMetal #SurAustru

What a joy to finally see #Dordeduh on stage at the #O2Academy in Islington, #London Flowing from the same ancient wellspring as the much missed #NeguraBunget, they keep #RomanianMetal on the map. #deathdoom for the thinking man and woman! #CelestialDarkness

Necrotum – Defleshed Exhumation Review

By Steel Druhm

I cannot claim familiarity or history with Romanian death metal act Necrotum, but the promo sump was shallow in January and an album title like Defleshed Exhumation was sure to catch the eye of Steel even in more target-rich environs. This is the band’s third full-length effort and it features a sound sitting at the crossroads of tech/prog/OSDM. Their earlier releases were much more traditional caveman death, but here on Defleshed, it seems like the boys wanted to stretch themselves and try some new things. This newfound progressive leaning gives the material a heavy, yet unpredictable style, like classic Suffocation mixed with the latest Tomb Mold. The template is quite promising, but can these old school dogs learn enough new tricks to keep things interesting and under control or will the wheels come off the death bus with no one around to Asphyx them?

Leading the charge with very downtuned guitars, opener “Warped in Entrails” (yes, I thought it should be “wrapped” too) comes out swinging and tries to bulldoze you into a mass grave with heavy grooves accented by fancy time signatures and frequent tempo shifts. There are bits of classic Cryptopsy in the sound and the band can play their instruments well, with an enjoyable lunacy and exuberance to the music, but little of it sticks. “Noxious Breeze” tries to walk that delicate line between straight-up brutal death and proggy/techy fare and falls off both sides along the way, though the flashes of Nile-esque guitar noodling are quite cool. When they restain their proggy impulses and shove heavy, ugly grooves up your Hersey highway as they do on “Dissolved in the Flesh Pits,”1 things get slightly more memorable, and the uber-low, burly riffs sometimes smack like Dying Fetus. “Mouldered Orb” is also a touch more immediate, though not exactly hooky.

Unfortunately, roughly half of Defleshed Exhumation leaves me staring vacantly at the walls of my office/holding cell. Cuts like “Shattered Flow of Time” and “Psychotic Apparations” are stock standard examples of tech death without much to trigger replays, and the album ends with a needless cover of Demigod’s “As I Behold I Despise.” Considering the album is just over 36 minutes, the fact they needed a cover to pad it out is troubling. Had I been asked to guess the album length, I would have said it ran much longer, which is generally not a good omen. The production is fine for the style though, with the guitars delivering a very low-end, oppressive impact, crushing your fat face from can-see to can’t-see. There’s a nice heavy punch to the drum sound as well.

This is a talented trio who have command of their instruments. Robert Brezean’s guitar work is impressive and he manages to cast off all manner of herky-jerky, jitter-inducing leads as well as the big, road-paving grooves. Alex Tampu is a fury behind the kit, doing everything he can to propel the music through your skull, and Filip Garlonta’s vocals are appropriately guttural and sick, though very one-note. Unfortunately, these individually solid pieces don’t come together often enough to form memorable songs. They try to do too much too often and the songs end up too cluttered and frenetic. Also bringing the album down are the downtuned guitars that make the material resemble deathcore pablum and this becomes tiring by the album’s halfway point.

Necrotum have talent and potential and their earlier works are quite entertaining, but the switch from more basic OSDM to the flashy, proggy style here hasn’t done them any favors. There’s a good EP buried in Defleshed Exhumation, but wrenching it out would require more effort than I’m willing to expend. I’ll keep an eye on what the band does going forward but my time will be spent with their early platters, not this one. Hardened tech death fiends may get greater mileage from this than I did though. Guard those Necrotums, boys.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Memento Mori
Websites: necrotumdeathmetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/necrotumdm
Releases Worldwide: January 22nd, 2024

#25 #2024 #Cryptopsy #DeathMetal #DefleshedExhumation #Jan24 #MementoMoriRecords #Necrotum #Review #Reviews #RomanianMetal #Suffocation