Review Summary: Sink into its atmospheres and be ensnared by its odd divination.
4 of 10 thought this review was well writtenFrom the depths of unsullied innocence, Vaura find the sweet token of creativity that most seem to miss or forget, floating sullenly in a void of wasted invention, imagination and a deep pool of potential just waiting to be plucked by those who are willing to look. You’ve heard it all before and don’t care to hear it again, the mindless ranting and raving of how old and stale a movement can become, what once shook bone and bent earth soon becomes a dreary and mindless meandering. A sound pioneered by the likes of Neurosis and ISIS, but its full potential only being completely interpreted by a select few, post-metal is one of these ever-dulling monotonies. At a time when it all seems lost, where the good, the great and the mighty are now far and few in between, the inertia is broken as Vaura’s
Selenelion grants the engrossing and full spectrum of colour. Solidified with talents ranging from Kayo Dot, Gorguts and Religious to Damn, the veritable intensity and clash of styles is immediately quantifiable, leaving tongues dripping and jaws dropping as the unimaginably ethereal riffs pour from the speakers.
What truly sets this album apart is the willingness for experimentalism, and how the music progresses throughout each song. ‘Souvenirs’ starting off with fell tribal drum beats, tenuous, shining guitar riffs easing one into the chilled, yet eerie atmospheres. The more melodically-inclined man’s post-metal with familiar tragic bellows and smoothly entrancing clean vocals,
Selenelion shows up all competition in its first five minutes and continues to impress at a steady and consistent pace. Over the course of its run time, the music seems to juxtapose between graceful and haunting soundscapes and then darker, more intense contextualisations of where those lighter soundscapes were going. It’s the way the interplay of the dissonant sludge riffing and heavy vocals combine with the more experimental clean vocals, sometimes crooning lightly, or sometimes met with severe and beautiful distortion, or sometimes soaring above the music.
Throughout the record we are met by dank acoustic compositions with crooning vocals and a tense, almost dripping atmosphere of ‘heavy,’ the avant-garde perceptions becoming a bigger thing, as you never quite find out where Vaura is taking you. At times the music dives into seas of double-bass pedaling, deep, off-kilter riffs that are akin to experimental black metal projects, high pitched vocal work that is light and airy above the music, technical bass rhythms layered under the droning and repetitive guitar shrieks. Influence of drone and ambient being fleshed out in tracks like ‘The Column’s Vein’ with the booming drones of the bass-y electronic tone, the quiet hum of the elongated ‘chant’ behind the ambient atmosphere and an isolated shouting echoing throughout. The way it all comes together is quite magical, just how entrancing the music is, consistently feeling quite magical to behold.
Not for a long while has such an album immediately taken hold of me, such alluring orchestrations hypnotising me from start to finish. Quite honestly an album that leaves one in awe at its majesty, Vaura’s debut
Selenelion is impressive to say the least, and speaks wonders of where the band is to head next. Let yourself go and delve into the psychedelic wonders of
Selenelion, sink into its atmospheres and be ensnared by its odd divination.
