Vyrion
Vyrion


4.5
superb

Review

by Gigglesdemon USER (31 Reviews)
December 30th, 2011 | 14 replies


Release Date: 2011 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Arguably the most interesting black metal release since Enslaved’s Axioma Ethica Odini.

The world just loves proving me wrong, doesn’t it? After a year of ho hum black metal releases (with maybe one or two exceptions) and looking back at last year, I realized something. Black metal is dead. I had given up on the genre except for a few old stalwarts who would continue producing excellent material. Then these Australian bastards show up and show me how very wrong I was. With a track list that manages to throw countless influences in (I.e. doom metal, post rock, Gothenburg melodic death metal) without ever losing sight of its black metal roots, Vyrion’s debut stands as probably the best black metal album of the year and is a promising start for a hopefully long and successful career.

The riffs are perfectly constructed, being brutal and unrelenting when need be or soft and atmospheric. Look no further than album highlights Winter Vector and Rendering the Lifeless. Both manage to perfectly fuse slower atmospheric sections with periods of aggressive and fast paced riffing. But Vyrion nails more than just aggression and slower atmospheric parts that seem to be expected of black metal bands. The aforementioned Winter Vector has some great Agalloch-esque moments that never sound like they are rip offs. The intro of The Silence is wonderfully doomy before erupting into pummeling death metal-esque riffs. The guitarists Mark Boyce and Dale G. Williams obviously know their craft. They even throw in a couple really cool solos or two that really show off their technical chops.

Vyrion also manages to astound with the sheer range of vocals that they manage to show off. Dale and back up vocalist and bassist Chris Cox manage to do everything from black metal shrieks to cleans to death metal growls. It’s really quite astounding. And none of them are really all that weak. Look to the astounding closer Sole Remainder for proof of that, or the astonishingly catchy The Decider.

I could go on and on about the fantastic bass lines (look to The Decider for that one) or the great drumming talents of Leo Graae. Or perhaps I could touch on how the production is really the only thing holding this album back from being perhaps the greatest album of the year (It’s pretty bad, even by black metal standards). But I won’t, because that will make this review go on for far too long. In short though, Vryion’s debut is an amazing slab of progressive black metal that makes them a definite artist to keep your eye on in a scene that seems to be struggling to create bands that continue to innovate and push the boundaries of “what can black metal be?”

Pros:
-Great guitar work
-Astonishing vocal performance
-Strong and robust rhythm section

Cons:
-Fuzzy and muddled production

Recommended Tracks:
Sole Remainder
Winter Vector
Rendering the Lifeless
The Decider



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user ratings (9)
4.1
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
Gigglesdemon
December 30th 2011


187 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Stumbled upon these guys. So glad I found out about them. One of my fav albums of the year. CC welcome!

Acanthus
December 30th 2011


9812 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Cool, will check out.

SCREAM!
December 30th 2011


15755 Comments


"Arguably the most interesting black metal release since Enslaved’s Axioma Ethica Odini."

Oh boy is that saying a lot >_>

Tyrannic
December 30th 2011


3296 Comments


i don't normally do bm, but i love some enslaved.

"The riffs are perfectly constructed, being brutal and unrelenting when need be or soft and atmospheric"

weird, try "the riffs are perfectly constructed; they are brutal and relentless at times, while soft and textured in others."

SCREAM!
December 30th 2011


15755 Comments


I've found Enslaved's last two to be pretty boring

ProgressiveTheory
December 31st 2011


44 Comments


Review has good ideas; try varying sentence structure a bit more so that it doesn't seem as choppy to the reader.

Production on this is a huge turn off.

Shuyin
December 31st 2011


14978 Comments


cool, ill be checking this out soon.

Gigglesdemon
December 31st 2011


187 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Awww...who negged me? Anyways, thanks for the CC everyone. I'll try to fix that up later today.

DarkNoctus
December 31st 2011


12359 Comments


Arguably the most interesting black metal release since Enslaved’s Axioma Ethica Odini.


but that was one of the least interesting and most overrated black metal albums of 2010

but the review isn't bad :]

DarkNoctus
December 31st 2011


12359 Comments


just listened to a bit of this and I'm liking it a lot, i'll download it from bandcamp, thanks!

really though, as far as i can tell, you're hearing things that aren't there at an attempt to make it seem more diverse than it is. this is a very basic black metal record.

leothedrummer
January 10th 2012


19 Comments


Woah, wasn't expecting to see this up here! Thanks for reviewing it!

Anyone who hasn't checked out the album yet can download it here:

http://vyrion.bandcamp.com/

Cheers!

glezz
August 26th 2012


235 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Enslaved haven't been Black Metal in more than a decade.

And they never were technically, as they don't sing Black lyrics or do the image thing. They are progressive Viking Metal.

Archelirion
February 8th 2015


6594 Comments


This simply didn't receive enough love. Haven't listened to it in a while before now, but it still sounds as good as it did.

Sevengill
February 4th 2020


12501 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

ooo, this looks fun.



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