Vyre are a German progressive black metal band and this is their fourth album.
I’ve enjoyed watching Vyre develop their sound, from the post-black metal of 2014’s The Initial Frontier Pt. 2, to the increasingly avant-garde stylings of 2018’s Weltformel. Which brings us to Voidserpent, a new album that offers us 42 minutes of new material from this expressive and interesting act. What have they done this time around?
Voidserpent sees Vyre looking further back in time, but without neglecting their progressive arc. They’ve embraced their black metal roots, while also broadening their sound and membership further – they now feature a bassist, a drummer, three guitarists, a keyboardist, a cellist, a violinist, and two vocalists, (one of which also sings for the mighty Todtgelichter).
Voidserpent is blackened and melodic. It simultaneously holds the old-school black metal style close to its heart, while also discarding it in favour of progressive and avant-garde influences. In this way it would have been extremely at home in the late 90s, as many black metal bands started to cast off the genre trappings they helped create and walk paths of their own. Vyre operate in similar laboritories, taking black metal’s ashen corpse and using dark sciences to animate it once more.
The songs are well-written and expressive, with detailed compositions that nonetheless embrace hostility. The album is full of blackened aggression that’s tempered by evocative melody, expressive clean vocals, and progressive moods. Vyre’s songcraft is an engaging one; constructed around a core of classic black metal, they build upon this with post-black resplendence and progressive sci-fi might. It’s tailor made to appeal to fans of late 90s black metal, but also has a contemporary edge. In this way, Voidserpent looks both backwards and forwards, making the best of its position in 2025 to deliver a compelling and enjoyable slice of progressive black metal. If the style appeals, don’t miss out on what Vyre have to offer.
Check out the album here.
Wonderbox Metal 