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Artist...: Rahu
Album....: The Quest for the Vajra of Shadows
Genre....: Black Metal
Label....: Ahdistuksen Aihio Producti
Source...: Vinyl
Size.....: 81,54 MB
Playtime.: 40:43 min
Type.....: Album
` Release..: Jan-25-2014
Encoder..: LAME V3.98.4 -V0
` Quality..: avgkbps / 44,1kHz / Joint-Stereo
.
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: | _. / | :
. . | |___.'_ | . .
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| |
| |
_ _____|___|_ _|___|_____ _
| | | |
| . | | . |
| : | | : |
| l | | l |
| X | | X |
| X | 01. Ordeal of X 06:30 | X |
| X | 02. Samudra Manthan 08:23 | X |
| X | 03. Kalas Bleed for the Sun-Eater 07:36 | X |
| X | 04. The Serpent King 09:30 | X |
| X | 05. Sceptre of the Auspicious One 08:44 | X |
| X | | X |
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`:::: . . ::::'
:: ::
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:: ::
`:::: . r e l e a s e . n o t e s . ::::'
`: Drawn to it from positive word of :'
`: mouth and the brilliant cover art, :'
`: The Quest for the Vajra of Shadows :'
`: was the ultimate shot in the dark :'
`: for me. I've never heard of this :'
`: Finnish two-piece, though I am :'
`: familiar with Atvar and his project :'
`: Circle of Ouroborus, nor am I an any :'
`: way familiar with Hindu mythology. :'
`: But this made the thrill of :'
`: discovering fresh brilliance all the :'
`: more satisfying, as The Quest for :'
`: the Vajra of Shadows is a dynamic, :'
`: well constructed and immersive black :'
`: metal. Rahu don't completely re- :'
`: invent the wheel, so much as :'
`: deconstruct it, moving the various :'
`: pieces to and fro to fit their :'
`: compositional desires. It's such an :'
`: expertly done album, which feels :'
`: both fully realized and warmly :'
`: familiar without being derivative. :'
`: Rahu have landed in the sweet spot :'
`: of creativity and craftsmanship, and :'
`: do so with such confidence and skill :'
`: that it's impossible not to be :'
`: impressed. :'
`: :'
`: Featuring a raw, space-y production, :'
`: The Quest for the Vajra of Shadows :'
`: sounds great and makes a strong :'
`: first impression that eases you into :'
`: the deeper, darker aspects of the :'
`: album. The Finnish influences are :'
`: pretty strong with an evident Horna :'
`: and Sargeist vibe, threads of :'
`: chilling melody strewn amongst the :'
`: fleshly and raw black metal riffs, :'
`: but the dependence of hypnotic song :'
`: structures and pure crushing :'
`: blackness brings to mind Darkspace :'
`: and even Burzum at his most raw and :'
`: sleepy. It's a powerful combination :'
`: of traditional demonic practices :'
`: with the ethereal darkness of modern :'
`: atmospheric black metal, complete :'
`: with all the nihilism and somberness :'
`: left in tact. The Quest for the :'
`: Vajra of Shadows is firmly an :'
`: atmospheric black metal record, but :'
`: it touches on a lot of different :'
`: styles and atmospheres and feels :'
`: both real and focused. It's an album :'
`: that comes about when a couple of :'
`: talented, learned and visionary :'
`: musicians get together and create: :'
`: the perfect storm of creativity and :'
`: credibility. I wouldn't go so far as :'
`: to describe The Quest for the Vajra :'
`: of Shadows as ground-breaking, but :'
`: it's not far off. The influences are :'
`: there but they never overwhelm the :'
`: bands vision or identity and the :'
`: album feels unique throughout. Rahu :'
`: sure didn't invent the disparate :'
`: elements on this album, but they :'
`: have without a doubt come up with a :'
`: new way of operating them. :'
`: :'
`: There are no real complaints for my :'
`: part: The Quest for the Vajra of :'
`: Shadows is a complete album and a :'
`: full-contact listening experience. :'
`: Though perhaps not quite and :'
`: overwhelming as Darkspace, who seek :'
`: to swallow you in the massive :'
`: gravitational force of their riffs, :'
`: Rahu present many of the same ideas :'
`: in a more diverse and vibrant way. :'
`: Rahu are masterful in their use of :'
`: melody, always a tricky thing for :'
`: most black metal, composing both :'
`: eerie whispers and soaring, epic :'
`: leads(or in the case of the opener :'
`: "Ordeal of X," both). The twosome :'
`: also demonstrate complete control of :'
`: atmospheric song-writing, as :'
`: repetition is used to create :'
`: hypnotic atmospheres, but never :'
`: abused to the point of boredom. The :'
`: Quest for the Vajra of Shadows makes :'
`: use of a lot of tricky, difficult :'
`: elements: melody, repetition, :'
`: rawness, extreme song-length. All of :'
`: these things utterly destroy lesser :'
`: acts and albums, yet all feel :'
`: absolutely essential to the :'
`: greatness of this album. It's :'
`: utterly amazing when you think about :'
`: it: Rahu took all of these elements :'
`: that consistently ruin other bands, :'
`: and then crafted an entire album :'
`: around them with masterful :'
`: precision. It's as if the band were :'
`: trying to win a bet, and if there :'
`: was a wager on whether a band could :'
`: pull all of these concepts off on a :'
`: single album then somebody needs to :'
`: pay up. :'
`: :'
`: I honestly cannot recommend The :'
`: Quest for the Vajra of Shadows :'
`: enough. Black metal is a genre that :'
`: can be so diverse that it's hard to :'
`: find those albums that every black :'
`: metal fan can enjoy. Some want :'
`: keyboards, some want epic, some want :'
`: grime and ghouls and some want to be :'
`: eviscerated. The Quest for the Vajra :'
`: of Shadows provides a little bit for :'
`: all while being as focused and :'
`: professional as one could ask for. I :'
`: don't know whether this album will :'
`: be remembered for years to come as :'
`: some classic or if like many great :'
`: albums it will disappear into the :'
`: bowls of obscurity, but for this :'
`: moment, The Quest for the Vajra of :'
`: Shadows is an epic undertaking worth :'
`: the struggle. :'
. ......... .
. ................... .
: .....::::::::::' :
| `````:::::::' |
: | `:::::::' | :
| | `..:' | |
_|__| ` |__|_
__ _________.' | | `._________ __
_ _____________ _ _______________ S! | .
______ _____ / __ __ _____ /__ __ ____ i .
_/ ___/ | ___/ /__| |__| | | ___/ / /__| |__ \__| i__
|________. |__________________.| |______/_______ ___\_____ __/
|__| |_____ _ |__| . |__|
__ _________ . c r u e l t y . _________ __
`. | _ ___ ____ ____ | .'
"|""| | | | ___| ___| |""|"
| | ` | | | |
: | ` ._______| | :
| ------- |
: """""" :
' ''''' `
` --- `
` _ ""
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