Vnder a Crvmbling Moon : "I : Oblivion"

 In February of this year the British band released the album that is the first part, and now here comes the second. They can spell their name with all the V's they want but it is not going to make them black metal. They open their newest full length with a thirteen minute sonic sprawl. Things start off with a minimal droning strum of guitar before building into mammoth riffs that trample over you. The first narrative a is a commanding growl that booms to the forefront. The harsh vocals vary in pitch as the song progresses, but the lower coarse growl is the focal point. The guitars are well layered and it shows they can use atmosphere effectively without dulling the sting of their attack. My first impression is favorable, though there is some fat to be trimmed. 

The second song is under twelve minutes. There is a darker more depressive weight to the mood of things that recalls funeral doom. The vocals are growled at a lower more despair drenched gurgle. Eight and a half months things break down into a minimal strum of clean guitar. I can understand the comparisons to post-rock here. However this lacks the  cinematic scope of dramatic dynamics that is essential to post -rock. A guitar solo of sorts does erupt at this point though. It is more like a tasty layer of nuanced melody than any shredding. The lean in closer to the doom sound again on "A Call From the Void".  The guitar solo that was hinted at on the previous song is more engaged going into this one. Not as languishing in grief as the previous song. Midway into it , things drop back down to the minimalist strum that we have heard now for the third time on this album. Actual singing comes in. While I appreciate including more melodic shades, the song it self feels like a disconnected journey. The melodic guitar playing continues to prove to be this band's strength. 

"Destruction" is a denser more singularly drive rumble of guitar. The growled vocals are more resonate not unlike  death metal gutturals. Sung vocals surface midway in, and offer another shade of melody that is welcome. There is more of a Jesu feel to the last song. The hypnotic guitars woven about are airy, with sung vocals holding a more droning chant under the tapestry of sound draped over them,  Five minutes in the growled vocals return.  Overall these guys are good at what they do even if the lines are blurred when it comes to what they do, and the songs wander at times , which if they refined them down to a highly focused 7 minutes a piece this could be a more tightly coiled machine. I will give this album an 8.5.