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██▌ Artist...: Veldes ░▐██▌
░▐██ Album....: Skyward ░██▌░
▓▐██ Year.....: 2014 ▓▐██▓
▓▐██ Rel.Date.: 2021-05-02 ░▐██▓
▐██ Genre....: Black Metal ██▌░
░ ██▌ Label....: Razed Soul Productions ██▌
▐██ Source...: CD ▐██
░▐██▌ Type.....: EP ▐██▌░
▓▄████ Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo ████▌░
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1. Skyward 5:42
2. Woe Eater 9:09
3. Of Rain and Moss 9:38
4. Gone 2:11
------
26:40
One thing I kept thinking back to as I was exploring this new Veldes EP
was how Tilen Simon (aka Isvaroth) has such a flair for cautious
material held at a steady pace to provide patient emotional impact, only
rarely fielding the explosions of frost tinted, blinding speed we
associate with a lot of traditional black metal. Whether or not that
makes Skyward partially folk metal, or black/doom I really don't need to
delve into, but the result is that the music takes on this almost
cinematic, sentimental form that I often equate with veteran composers
like Hans Zimmer on some of his more recent material (Inception, etc)
where the slow pianos hit those exact right notes, only here they are
complementary to the powerful, catchy and simplistic chord patterns and
driving double-kick drums...it's quite overwhelming when coupled with
the hideous black metal snarls that Tilen will often sustain over entire
note phrases.
Two of the four tracks here, the first ("Skyward" itself) and last
("Gone") are purely instrumental pieces using the keys which most
closely manifest the principle I mentioned earlier, and both are
gorgeous of their own accord, but the 9 minute "Woe Eater" also holds
consistently to this theme with the pianos lightly caressing the
burgeoning, melodic chords. This is also the song where he lets us know
that we're not entirely in the safe zone by battering the life out of us
with this concrete black metal blast sequence. "Of Rain and Moss", the
other metallic track remains the slower, grandiose tempo and ties the
harsher elements in with the instrumentals, though I found this was
actually the most repetitive feeling tune among the four, though not at
all bad if you like slower, sure footed melodies embroiled with angst
and suffering. Bass lines are simple and generally tend towards the root
notes of the rhythm guitar, but I can't imagine that by being busier or
complex they would add much to the songs' unerring sense of sadness,
like the fog slowly dissipating from the woodland scene in the cover
picture.
I did find the vocal mix irksome, not because I don't enjoy Tilen's
soul-baring rasps, which go sailing over the forested hillsides like
blackbirds slowly plummeting from the heavens, but because there seemed
to be a little too much of a buzz or distortion on the vocal track. Also
I found myself wondering just how much more elegant these tunes might
feel with soaring clean vocals, or a mixture of the two styles, but at
least he's got one of those down pretty tight. Otherwise, I think this
is slightly stronger material than last year's full-length To Drown in
Bleeding Hope. The two instrumentals are beautiful, the way he weaves
that style into the heavier material is also quite memorable. Riff
progressions are mildly predictable, and he could probably construct
melodies that come at you more from left field, but all in all, if you
experience this EP in the proper climate, it conveys the sense of
beautiful, maudlin desperation that Veldes no doubt set out to achieve,
and those fond of slower, atmospheric black metal which doesn't shy away
from piano sounds should find it appealing.
---
Back in 2012, Tilen Simon started Veldes, not knowing what sort of
impact he was going to have on people with the music he will create.
After a year of writing and recording, their first full length album
entitled To Drown In Bleeding Hope was released (which my review of will
be up in a bit.) This sparked peoples interest and grew the band's fan
base quickly. Now, after riding out the successful release of their
debut full length for a year, Veldes is back with more! Skyward was
released in 2014 and features a little over 26 minutes of absolutely
beautiful melodies and astounding soundscapes. Consisting of only 4
songs, two being instrumental only, Skyward is a majestic piece of art
that incorporates joy, sorrow, hate, and love all into one and portrays
those emotions extremely well through the music.
While listening to this release, I noticed myself almost in a trance
while listening. It is extremely calming and meditative music while at
the same time remaining rooted within the black metal veins. I have
found that while working on something frustrating or after a long day at
work, Skyward is the best thing to have playing in the background
because it keeps you cool and collective instead of getting your blood
pumping. I attribute these feelings to the chord progressions used on
almost all songs, especially the intro track. I have listened to
thousands of albums and with that, thousands of intro's and this one is
by far my favorite. It has a melancholic vibe with the downward chord
structure and the way the piano melody intertwines with the guitar. It
is a gorgeous representation of how well these types of intro's fit
within metal music. When the black metal kicks in, it still keeps the
piano at the forefront for most of the time and that adds so much to the
music.
The drums are there, but are not overpowering in any way. If anything, I
would have liked to hear them a bit higher in the mix to hear everything
a little bit better. The guitars, both electric and acoustic, are played
with expertise and skill. The riffs were well thought out and well
written. No detail was overlooked when it came to interweaving melodies
with the guitars and piano because they sound perfect together. The
vocals are not present too often compared to the instrumental sections.
If any of you have read some of my other reviews, you know that I like
when bands do that. While the vocals are important, music like this can
really come forward and tell a story or paint a picture for the listener
without using lyrics to do the talking. When the vocals are present,
there is always something interesting going on with the band in the
background, it is never dubbed down so the vocals can have the spotlight
but is never too present to the point where the vocals don't matter,
giving it a perfect balance.
T.S. is an extremely talented guy and being able to put all of this
together by himself is a feat on its own, but executing it as
beautifully as he did is extraordinary. While not everyone will find
this as entertaining of a release due to the slower tempos and emphasis
on melody, this is exactly what I look for in music because of the
emotions it arouses. Needless to say, this has to be one of my favorite
albums I've ever reviewed!
---
From Bled, a tiny mountain town in northwestern Slovenia, comes the
moody depressive solo BM act Veldes which at this time of review has
just two releases to its name. I've been hearing "Skyward" a few days
now and I'm impressed with how Veldes main man Tilen Simon has
approached making this recording, even though parts of it don't always
communicate fully what he tries to say. From start to finish, I can hear
there's a very clear over-riding concept and a narrative combining
nature, change and a range of emotions running from regret through anger
and wistfulness to resignation running through the EP. There is singing
that makes the message clearer but the music by itself conveys emotion
and mood well. Simon has an ear for melodies and riffs that are at once
beautiful and distinctive, and which carry drama and feeling well.
The opening and closing tracks are all-acoustic pieces in which strings
(viola, cello) provide the general backdrop to raindrop piano tones and
what appears to be a tinkly celeste (a keyboard instrument similar to
piano) comes in as icing on the cake. "Skyward" (the track) creates the
general mood in which the listener is to receive the EP's message. When
the EP proper begins, it comes in as smoothly as it can manage, given
that the music aspires to epic grandeur and sharp aggression. And
majestic and aggressive Veldes certainly can be: the bass is deep and
the guitars are steely in tone with slight distortion. The celeste motif
from the opening title piece continues over into "Woe Eater" while black
metal guitars slash away in support. While this track is good, it does
suffer a little in sound: the (synth-generated) drums are too
feather-light for the style of music Veldes aims to create and need to
be more powerful and thunderous; and the vocal needs to be more varied
in its delivery - a greater emotional range is needed and the odd scream
would be welcome. The acoustic keyboards could also be a little sharper
and less smooth in tone to bring out the melancholy.
"Of Rain and Moss" borrows inspiration from black metal and doom metal
and the drum-beats suggest a bit of death metal influence. The track can
be repetitive but the atmosphere is more important: it carries a strong
sense of tragedy as well as grandeur. The best part comes past the
halfway mark when the rhythm section leaves off and listeners are
treated to doomy riffs resounding over and over with piano
accompaniment. The guitar tone is stern and forbidding with just the
slightest bit of distortion in parts. A deep sense of sadness, perhaps
regret at what has gone and can never return or be reclaimed, is
present.
The recording does succeed in establishing an inner world in which
humanity's loss of contact with the natural world and a sense of how
enormous that loss is, constitute the EP's message. It does falter a bit
in its second half when it starts to rely on repetition to drive its
message home and for a few moments I did think the music was losing
focus and direction. The fact that the percussion is not as strong as it
could be, resulting in music that's not very energetic and powerful,
could have something to do with the recording sagging in the most
important track "Of Rain and Moss". Taken as a whole though, "Skyward"
(the whole EP) is a very emotionally moving effort even with all its
imperfections.
---
At the beginning of 2014, I had the pleasure of listening to Veldes'
sauntering debut, To Drown in Bleeding Hope. The prospect of another
one-man atmospheric black metal band with songs about nature and
solipsism isn't bound to excite anyone at first glance; even so, Veldes
seemed to stick above the sea of mediocrity, thanks in large part to
multi-instrumentalist Tilen Simon's talent with composition. While
Skyward offers a similarly bleak and bleary experience to its
predecessor, it's with some disappointment I find myself largely
underwhelmed by Veldes' second offering. While it's often the lot of EPs
to supplement an artist's primary work in some way, it's discouraging
that Skyward has scarcely attempted to improve on the formula on To
Drown in Bleeding Hope. Rather, we have a half hour of music that is too
innocuous to be anything but atmospheric, and too leisurely to be
entirely engaging. It is not a failure so much as it is a discouraging
dip into the middling brand of quality bands of this ilk are prone to
putting out. Considering what Tilen Simon has proven himself capable of
in the past, I was frankly expecting something more.
With atmosphere-based music of any manner, a composer must skirt the
boundary between ambiance and engagement; music with too few changes in
its formula will run the risk of losing a listener's attention.
Likewise, music with too many dynamic shifts will lack the pleasant
hypnotism artists in atmospheric black metal often strive for. Tilen
Simon navigated that balance with skill on To Drown in Bleeding Hope.
Although his style often marched on with the leisure and loom of funeral
doom, I felt continuously engaged by the music. With a greater shift
towards repetition-oriented pacing and longer tracks on Skyward, the
music has lost some of its effect. The two centrepieces run close to the
ten minute mark. This general increase in length has resulted in
steadier builds or more nuanced compositions, but rather a stretching
and repetition of ideas. Held in tandem with the already-sluggish pace
of the music, this drawn out approach has not worked as well for Veldes.
Evidence of Skyward's less successful direction is evident from the
start, before we even reach the main course. "Skyward" (the opening
track) offers a palette of innocuous programmed instruments not unlike
many black metal 'album intro' tracks. The difference in this case is
that it plods on for six minutes. Throughout listening, there's an
unspoken expectation for the metal to kick off and get things going.
There's no such luck on the first track, and while "Woe Eater" brings
forth the traditional blend of treble-worshipping guitars and raspy
snarls, it doesn't do much to encourage more excitement. On Skyward and
the debut alike, I get the sense that Veldes is predominantly interested
in the merits of atmosphere- the so-called metal elements are a means to
an end. Some of my favourite moments on To Drown in Bleeding Hope were
among the most ambient passages the album had to offer. Both in the way
the way they are composed and executed, the pair of ambient tracks
(including the album's denouement "Gone") aren't particularly
interesting.
Fortunately, Simon's talent is much more apparent in "Woe Eater" and "Of
Rain and Moss". Although they both feel somewhat overextended (each
evolves as a series of variations on a theme) the sound is well-balanced
and timed. "Woe Eater" is a particularly solid affair, perpetually in
the midst of renovating its single melodic idea in the hopes of keeping
it engaging. Most often, this fight for interest translates into a
familiar back-and-forth between quasi-doom plodding and fast tempos,
complete with blastbeats. Especially in the way Veldes depends upon the
eerily programmed symphonics to lead the main idea, comparisons with
Russia's Windbruch wouldn't be out of place. With regards to production,
Veldes' comfortable blend of clarity and murk serves the project well,
though it's worthy to mention Simon's vocals feel mixed higher than
should have seemed necessary.
In truth, Skyward isn't wholly weak or unworthy. Of course, following
every promising debut, there is a certain expectation that begs for the
next step to be bolder, more ambitious and (in some cases) more
beautiful than that which preceded it. An EP though it may be, I
approached the album with some hopes it would rival (or, in best case,
surpass) the thoughtful work I'd heard on To Drown in Bleeding Hope. In
this case, my initial impression was one of disengaged, mild enjoyment,
and subsequent listens have not changed the stance at all. With that
said, it is not so much a misstep that it compromises my anticipation
for Veldes' work in the future.
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