Vuur & Zijde – Boezem (Review)

Vuur & Zijde are a blackened post metal band from the Netherlands and this is their debut album.

Brought to us by current and ex-members of bands such as Freja, Laster, Silver Knife, Terzij de Horde, Witte Wieven, and more, Boezem contains 46 minutes of idiosyncratic and enjoyable music.

Boezem is an interesting release that’s non-standard and has a lot of personality. It throws together post-punk, shoegaze, and a dash of Gothic seasoning into a post-blackened pot, stirs it altogether with passionate skill, and then serves the resulting mix up with darkened flavourings. The songs have a musical base that’s infused with a blackened essence, yet are graced with the impassioned vocals of a singer who knows how to use her voice to get the most out of the material. These vocals, sitting atop blackgaze artistry and atmospheric menace, make for a formidable combination. If you’ve ever wanted an emotive blend of post-punk and blackened/Gothic post-metal, then Boezem is for you.

The songs are well-crafted and satisfying. The synths layer the music with feeling, while the guitars trade introspective depth and melancholic blackened might. Atop everything sit the gorgeous vocals. Imbued with emotive depth, they’re simultaneously the music’s obvious focus, yet also not. The reason for this is down to the skilled songwriting – rather than rely of the singer’s potent voice to carry the music, Vuur & Zijde’s approach is frequently more restrained than that. This is one of the reasons why Boezem works so well actually – the music gets the chance to really showcase how strong it is in its own right, and when you add in the vocals too, it’s a real winning package.

If you like The Gathering’s early days, only you also want post-punk elements and a dollop of post-black metal too, then Boezem is for you.