This is the third album from Belgian sludge/doom metal band Oldd Wvrms.
The follow up to 2016’s Ignobilis, Oldd Wvrms have returned with a new 54 minutes of material.
Combining sludge and doom with elements of drone, black metal, and post-metal, Oldd Wvrms offer music that’s dark and gloomy, with plenty of depth for the listener to get lost in. Thoughtfully composed, and delivered with conviction, the intelligently crafted songs on Codex Tenebris provide a lot of variety and interest for the listener, all within a framework that mixes the aforementioned styles together quite naturally.
Dynamics and atmosphere are both well-represented across the album, as is a sense of structuring and compositional know-how that allows the music to easily secure the listener’s attention, while keeping it though a good level of quality checking by the band.
Oldd Wvrms have built on the strengths of Ignobilis and have produced an album that is arguably more expressive than its predecessor. It’s clear that a lot of time and energy has gone into Codex Tenebris, and I imagine that this is at least partly because now the music has nothing to hide behind. Yes, that’s right; unlike Ignobilis, this new record is without vocals. This change seems to suit the band though, and even though I do miss the vocals on occasion, the album is strong enough to pull it off.
The latest release by Oldd Wrvms draws you in like an old friend, and keeps you satisfied and content throughout the playing time by the quality of the engaging soundscapes that the band have crafted.
Highly recommended.
al,
