VOODUS – emanating sparks LP black

lim. black vinyl to 400 copies

Since their formation in 2015, the ascent of Sweden’s VOODUS has been steady yet assured. After a decade under the moniker Jormundgang, the band sought a fresh outlook with the new nom de plume VOODUS and began sharpening their knives. And carved from these blades emerged the 2015 EP NightQueen, subsequently followed by the Serpent Seducer Saviour 10″ in 2017. However, it was VOODUS breakout debut album – appropriately titled Into the Wild, released in 2018 by SHADOW – where the band showed the full fathom of their powers. Starkly melodic yet crypt-pure black metal, the hour-long Into the Wild was at once authentically vintage and refreshingly modern, their songcraft now honed to its fiercest and most finessed essence. Somehow, they eclipsed that feat with the two-song Open the Otherness EP two years later. More than “just” an EP, these two tracks were EPIC, totaling 23 minutes of obsidian grandeur.

Now, where does the winding path lead them? VOODUS’ second album, Emanating Sparks. Comparatively a more concise record at 45 minutes, the seven-song Emanating Sparks certainly shows no slowdown in their creativity nor conservative thinking on the band’s part: majestically immediate, effervescently melodic, executed with poise and power, VOODUS here present an album custom-made for the stage and yet one not without its charms for personal contemplation. The occult aura is stronger than ever, it must be said, as their melodicism weaves through the soul with stirring effect, vapor trails of beyond-the-shade menace opening one’s third eye with ease and elan. Many weapons are still at VOODUS’ disposal – the riffing is stalwart when surging or stomping, the rhythms move mountains at any speed, and guitarist T. Fongelius’ vocals command the hordes with their clear enunciation – and more than ever, they utilize them with especial emphasis on dynamics. Emanating Sparks is aggressive to be sure and undeniably a BLACK METAL record, but it’s one imbued with a subtle sensitivity (or just call it “feel”), a deftness of approach that elevates it above extremity for its own sake or just another tired genre exercise. Or put another way, VOODUS have fully entered the realm of plausibly professional black metal classicism; Emanating Sparks is thus truly titled…

VOODUS continue to speak the noble language of black metal, but broaden its dialect with reverence and intelligence. Open thy ears and receive their Emanating Sparks!

Tracks:

1. Harbinger of Death
2. Emanating Sparks
3. The Call of the Abysmal Deep
4. The Scorned
5. Below and Beyond
6. Hieros Gamos
7. Where the Whispering Wind Blows

Genres: Black Metal

GPSR Information:
Manufacturer:
Regain Records & Publishing
Kvarngatan 20, 232 34 Arlöv, Sweden
info(at)regainrecords.se