This is the latest EP from US black metallers Valdrin.
2023’s Throne of the Lunar Soul was a standout album, so it’s great to have more new Valdrin appear. Apex Violator is a tight 29 minutes, delivering five songs of Valdrin’s sharp, lethal black metal.
Apex Violator combines the harsher side of second wave black metal with the symphonic side, resulting in a mixture between the two that brings out the darkness in both. The songs blend aggressive malice with infernal grandeur, with strengths taken from each of them.
Valdrin have emphasised their most aggressive leanings on Apex Violator. The songs are direct and serrated, with snarling ferocity and a fiercely brutal heart. The more melodic aspects have been toned down, (although not removed entirely), in favour of a venomous blackened bite. The symphonic components have been retooled; here they are malevolent and menacing, and are effective in building substantive mood. Valdrin still make use of atmosphere and epic grandeur in places, but they surround this with iron spikes and flames.
Apex Violator showcases Valdrin at their most hostile, which has resulted in a collection of songs that achieve worldbuilding through savagery and threatening atmosphere. Each track has much to offer connoisseurs of underground black metal, and all boast strong compositions and performances. On Apex Violator, Valdrin have shown once more why they are so well-regarded.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 