Review Summary: A brief review for a brief EP
White Ward, the rising band hailing from Ukraine, released this little two song EP in honor of the milestone 200th album release on Debemur Morti Productions, their France-based record label. While short releases in this format (in this case, a runtime well under eighteen minutes) often come across as throwaways, that isn’t true here. Although narrowly missing the quality level of White Ward’s two impressive full-lengths, this is another success which adds to the band’s well-deserved shine as one of the best artists in their lane of the metal world.
The two tracks here, “Debemur Morti” and “Embers” are both fairly lengthy endeavors which provide a decent overview of the various genre strands which White Ward have explored in their succinct career thus far. Listeners will find traces of blackgaze, more traditional black metal, jazz, prog, post-metal, and ambient scattered throughout these two songs. While neither tune flows quite as well as the band at their best, and the atmosphere doesn’t reach the masterful nature of the night-time urban feel of their sophomore LP
Love Exchange Failure or the unsettling horror vibe of their debut
Futility Report , this is a rewarding listen with significant replay value. The title track (which features a guest appearance from Solefald’s vocalist) is the more complex in structure of the two songs here, while “Embers” takes a more straightforward approach, building from an atmospheric jazzy intro into a pummeling blackened climax, and both are reliably enjoyable creations.
Debemur Morti likely won’t go down as White Ward’s finest hour, but it does the trick as a small release designed to keep their fans satiated between albums. In fact, this short EP also represents a solid invitation to new listeners, providing a great (if fleeting) introduction to one of the most promising relative newcomers on the scene.
