V▲LH▲LL- Leaning on Shadows
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Up until now V▲LH▲LL remained something of an enigma, having released a string of EPs and remix material and never clearly defining the boundaries of their witch-house derived style and method. Their début album "Leaning on Shadows", hopes to establish clearly what was merely hinted at on V▲LH▲LL's past material.
As a listener, seasoned or completely new to the band or the genre, you will be pulled in with a gravity defying force. The opening track "EINHÄRJAR" pulls together so many wonderfully devised soundscapes that the emerging entity is as enthralling as it is beautiful. Somewhere amidst the rich cascade of soft synths there's an underlying heartbeat of the track that pulsates constantly reminding you of the immediacy and the profound appeal of the song.
Moods verge on dangerous with the melancholy of each composition juxtaposed with the escalating intensity of grimy, swirling sounds that reach out through the façade of beautifully constructed melodies, in an attempt to swallow and drown out the sweet mixture of vocals and instruments. In the end however, like on "TOWERS FALL" all of this comes together in a melange of, not atypically structured, pop templates and the recurring crescendos of synths and noise. It is not revelatory by any means, V▲LH▲LL is flirting openly with the general concepts behind this most recent wave of witch-house but is constructed with care and conviction and sweeps the listener off his feat easily, putting forward an unsettling imbalance between the evocative tapestry of sounds and the accessible, overriding, pop structure that elevates the best of what "Leaning on Shadows" has to offer.
Considering that the album hits its highs so early on it is interesting to observe how the aesthetics shift constantly presenting the listener with the task of gradually readjusting to the record’s increasingly intensifying tone. Somewhere, halfway through the experience, with tracks like "DOWN IN THE WOODS", "Leaning on Shadows" settles within a landscape of shadowy and unsettling concoction of whizzing distortions that permeates even the romantic and gentle opening moments of "HOURS". As if peeking through the cracks of the foundations laid by the unnamed duo behind V▲LH▲LL, the fury of eerie, crackling instrumentations haunts the tracks like "HVERGELMIR" and mutates into the dynamic beat of "BORTOM FJÄLL" and the closing "SATANIC RITUAL ABUSE".
From the pool of ideas presented on the short playing releases like "WOODS" and "THΣ SH▲PΣ OF HUGIN", emerges an album of eclectic but well established charm and influence. It's a dark, intense but often profound experience that walks the line between the obvious impact of the witch-house currents and the residual presence of other industrial concepts. A treat for all those invested in moody and unsettling fantasies, made up of melody and noise.
Tracklist:
01. EINHARJAR
02. TOWERS FALL
03. HVERGELMIR
04. DOWN IN THE WOODS
05. 23 HOURS
06. BORTOM FJALL
07. VAGSKAL
08. WATER HARP
09. RUNES IN CIRCLES
10. SATANIC RITUAL ABUSE
As a listener, seasoned or completely new to the band or the genre, you will be pulled in with a gravity defying force. The opening track "EINHÄRJAR" pulls together so many wonderfully devised soundscapes that the emerging entity is as enthralling as it is beautiful. Somewhere amidst the rich cascade of soft synths there's an underlying heartbeat of the track that pulsates constantly reminding you of the immediacy and the profound appeal of the song.
Moods verge on dangerous with the melancholy of each composition juxtaposed with the escalating intensity of grimy, swirling sounds that reach out through the façade of beautifully constructed melodies, in an attempt to swallow and drown out the sweet mixture of vocals and instruments. In the end however, like on "TOWERS FALL" all of this comes together in a melange of, not atypically structured, pop templates and the recurring crescendos of synths and noise. It is not revelatory by any means, V▲LH▲LL is flirting openly with the general concepts behind this most recent wave of witch-house but is constructed with care and conviction and sweeps the listener off his feat easily, putting forward an unsettling imbalance between the evocative tapestry of sounds and the accessible, overriding, pop structure that elevates the best of what "Leaning on Shadows" has to offer.
Considering that the album hits its highs so early on it is interesting to observe how the aesthetics shift constantly presenting the listener with the task of gradually readjusting to the record’s increasingly intensifying tone. Somewhere, halfway through the experience, with tracks like "DOWN IN THE WOODS", "Leaning on Shadows" settles within a landscape of shadowy and unsettling concoction of whizzing distortions that permeates even the romantic and gentle opening moments of "HOURS". As if peeking through the cracks of the foundations laid by the unnamed duo behind V▲LH▲LL, the fury of eerie, crackling instrumentations haunts the tracks like "HVERGELMIR" and mutates into the dynamic beat of "BORTOM FJÄLL" and the closing "SATANIC RITUAL ABUSE".
From the pool of ideas presented on the short playing releases like "WOODS" and "THΣ SH▲PΣ OF HUGIN", emerges an album of eclectic but well established charm and influence. It's a dark, intense but often profound experience that walks the line between the obvious impact of the witch-house currents and the residual presence of other industrial concepts. A treat for all those invested in moody and unsettling fantasies, made up of melody and noise.
Tracklist:
01. EINHARJAR
02. TOWERS FALL
03. HVERGELMIR
04. DOWN IN THE WOODS
05. 23 HOURS
06. BORTOM FJALL
07. VAGSKAL
08. WATER HARP
09. RUNES IN CIRCLES
10. SATANIC RITUAL ABUSE
