Vanum – Legend (Review)

This is the third album from US black metallers Vanum.

The promo blurb states that Legend is for fans of Ultha, Wiegedood, Ash Borer, Fell Voices, Turia, Fluisteraars, Wode, Yellow Eyes, Bathory, Rotting Christ, and epic heavy metal. This is as good a place as any to start with for this record.

Vanum play black metal that’s uncompromising and grandiose. Mix Bathory, classic black metal, and classic heavy metal together and you’ll find Vanum appear, watching you with fire in their eyes.

The band’s melodies are epic and rich with emotive potency. The songs channel Bathory’s sense of worldbuilding scale and ambition through a black metal lens. Legend takes from old and new to bring forth a hybrid of both that feels older than it is.

The songwriting does well to integrate the various elements that make Vanum the band that they are. The music is majestic and atmospheric, while also retaining a scathing blackened core that keeps the music grounded. The harsh rawness of the vocals is juxtaposed nicely against the pristine purity of the leads and solos, while synths layer everything with sweeping soundscapes.

Legend contains 47 minutes of music that acts as a springboard to times gone past, while skilfully managing to keep one foot in the present. The result is an album of epic black metal that will surely appeal to anyone who has a taste for the majestic, or who wants more from their black metal than pure underground aggression.

Very highly recommended.