This is the third album from Finnish black metallers Qwälen.
Veri Virtaa Edelleen brings us 45 minutes of untamed ferocity. Qwälen channel their inner darkness via eight tracks of uncompromising black metal. It’s harsh and malevolent, fuelled by the burning coals of hardcore and crust, and delivered with venomous aggression.
Raw and primal, this is music that is sharply brutal. The piercing screams are intense and the raging guitars imbued with fierce energy. Heartless melodies lacerate freely, while drums pound with the finality of the firing squad. Even the bass has a pulsing a presence that’s wonderfully menacing to hear.
Veri Virtaa Edelleen is not a record for the faint-hearted. Qwälen’s fury knows few limits, yet it’s not a one-dimensional affair. The majority of the album is fast and merciless, but not totally. There are occasional moments of respite amidst its withering barrage, but these exist purely to pave the way for the next onslaught. Atmosphere is wielded like a weapon, augmenting the violence with tension, terror, menace, and fear. Most of the songs are exercises in unfathomable violence, (Pirujen Illallinen might be the peak expression of this), with the occasional textured moment within the carnage to provide space between beatings. The furious raw aggression of the bulk of Veri Virtaa Edelleen is intoxicating. Then there’s the barely restrained predatory focus of Kahleet, and the atmospheric assault of Veri Vastaa. Both of which give Qwälen a bit more room with which to work in, while still delivering the hostility that the band exude with every pore.
Veri Virtaa Edelleen brings together the effortless darkness of Finnish black metal with the sort of lethal punk intensity that many blackened hardcore bands do so well. Unlike the majority of the latter though, Veri Virtaa Edelleen has a frozen core of underground black metal that bleeds ice over everything it touches. In short, this is quality punk-infused black metal, and Qwälen’s new record is an absolute rager.
Wonderbox Metal 