Beyond cataclysm, the madness of the lier in wait. — The fourth book in Cincinnati, Ohio-based symphonic black/death metal quartet Valdrin‘s elaborate Ausadjur mythos returns to the perspective of its namesake and protagonist Valdrin Ausadjur after having spent two tomes (and a couple of centuries) detailing the netherworld-set saga of our antagonist and cruel god-lobotomizer Nex Animus. His fight against an evil insurrection unfounded and now with an unruly horde in tow, the peace within Orcus which greets Valdrin feels eerily false upon return yet it is undeniably good to be back at home in this celestial kingdom. An elaborate double LP which thoroughly details the greater musical ambitions of the quartet, ‘Throne of the Lunar Soul‘ retains all of the inventive, crushed-through tension of prior efforts while stretching every limb possible in reaching for a truly next-level showing. Though the full breadth of their oeuvre still has some room to expand and perfect in reach of such a grand vision it’ll be hard to deny the experting touch developed within these eleven parts of the greater ‘epic’ chapter told.

Valdrin officially formed circa 2010 but they’ve an interesting origin story even before then as guitarist/vocalist and maestro Carter Hicks (Ausadjur Hymns) would form the basis of his vision within a couple of other precursor efforts (Dawn of Wolves, Viravoid) before the world building, concept and idiosyncratic but not unheard-of style of keyboard laden black/death metal had arisen on their debut LP (‘Beyond the Forest‘, 2014), an aggressive and wrathfully atmospheric release which was clearly in the image of the mid-to-late 90’s shades of USBM, or, inspired by the Scandinavian black metal zeitgeist as it’d developed throughout the maturation and popularization of the late second wave. Though their sound was somewhat raw and aggressive to start this’d only intensified on thier standout sophomore full-length (‘Two Carrion Talismans‘, 2018) and album I’d reviewed favorably and appreciated for the generally bold step it’d taken beyond during the four years grace between. Their sound would garner increasing comparisons to the late 90’s/early 2000’s black/death releases from Emperor per Hicks‘ guitar work which’d generally balanced itself by way of death metal-adjacent riffcraft a la Diabolical Masquerade‘s ‘Nightwork‘. The main reason I cut through the band’s discography for a second time here is for the sake of having handed off the review of Valdrin‘s much shorter, far more ingenious second LP (‘Effigy of Nightmares‘, 2020) to a guest reviewer and needing to immerse myself in the missing context from that point.

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Diabolical Masquerade: This symphonic black metal project from Blakkheim, key member of Katatonia and Bloodbath, tended to veer between quite dramatic and aggressive orchestra black metal and even some progressive metal showing later on, often compared to the weirding evolution of Arcturus.

Dark Funeral: If you’ve never taken a serious look at German black metal you might not’ve happened upon the brilliance of this group who’d taken the modus of Scandinavian black metal and made their own work of it early on, check out ‘Tales from Eternal Dusk‘ (2001), though much of their discography is follower tripe.

Stormkeep: Though their interest is geared toward different progeny of the Emperor/Dimmu Borgir clonedom no doubt you’ll find plenty of parity of experience between Valdrin‘s more aggressive stylings and this steadier, more dramatic group.

Bal-Sagoth: A bit of an underrated, inventive fixture in British black metal and their symphonic/epic style forged in the mid-to-late 90’s lines up with some of what Valdrin are doing here and on the previous two albums.

The major takeaway from a direct step into the double LP-sized grandeur of ‘Throne of the Lunar Soul’ beyond a quick ride through their three previous records is that, yes, it certainly makes sense to expand not only the ambition of the band but the length of their works in response to the increasing density that’d accumulated on the ~31 minute ‘Effigy of Nightmares‘. While this follow-up feels four times as long as the prior album was their work remains stacked with potently active, engaging pieces. This fourth undertaking seems to have challenged the main composer to not only spread their wings into the lore and the luxury of the space provided, to embrace his saga it in a theatric way, but also to fill over an hour of real estate with meaningful events. Well, the path forward is predictable by rarely tread with any real substance as elements of late 70’s progressive heavy rock and traditional heavy metal’s epic and storming side help to make this black metal framework hold together when pulled from its claustrophobia-inducing vortex and given ivory halls to desecrate. In the hands of Hicks and crew this takes us on a campaign of nostalgia, mystery, and breathtaking vistae which are not without moments of diabolic intrigue and soaring chorales. That said the first thing that will cause your riff-obsessed scar of a mind to tingle in a bad way is a general lack of death metal groove or thrashing dynamic as those tenets are traded for a more stoic black/heavy metal space with a bit of power-shred inlaid. Don’t get the wrong idea, though, this will ultimately shake out as a modern extreme metal record.

Opener “Neverafter” gives us the chilling wrath of black metal in a driven state, punctuated by percussive riffs that meet up with toppling double-bass drumming and wildly finger-flexed leads as if it were 2002 and this generally upholds that bit of Galder-level cleverness in bombast which’d arrived on ‘Two Carrion Talismans‘. With the drums set to a sternum level punish and the bass of it all churning in the lower intestine most of the register allowed on this forceful black metal recording dances above the horizon line per its screen filling keyboard/synth traced dizziness and venom with the guitar riffs providing direction on pieces like “Golden Walls of Ausadjur” but not the core rhythmic device beyond a bit of a ‘Far Away From the Sun‘-level hum at the midway. Right off the bat we’re given some confidence that Valdrin can in fact hold its tension and still suggest some wilding momentum throughout this eight minute song, though we are still being introduced to scenery and place, achieving a sense of arrival at home with some natural dread inbound. For my own taste the pageantry of the opening moments here doesn’t smack of the expected cheese and the render remains fittingly ruddy, underground yet balanced in its professional enough sound design, clearly set vocals, and not-so pretentious use of leads. All signs point to an album with plenty of character up front.

Of course it takes about ~10-12 minutes for the real plunge into intrigue to start with “Seven Swords (In the Arsenal of Steel)” yet the scene is necessarily, and vitally, set before we the reigns are yanked and the ride earns its inspired momentum. The use of orchestral layers to help imply the rounding of the main verse riff carries a certain dramatic weight as the speedier side of Valdrin has always yielded some of their best riffs, here they develop more of a motif and an initial high energy build before the nigh 70’s heavy metal stride of “Paladins of Ausadjur” gallops in and likely sells the 2XLP right then and there. Before we could’ve accused these folks of some parity with similar intent of Stormkeep, albeit with greater density of action and pacing, but as we hit this verifiable pocket of thrashing and ‘epic’ heavy metal glide we might’ve been better off looking to Bal-Sagoth‘s early work for reference. “The Heirophant” in particular acts as a hinge-point where we start to touch upon increasingly power metal afflicted melodicism and not only in terms of the leads. There is a bit of a stretch which happens in my mind in skating from “Paladins of Ausadjur” to the Blind Guardian kicked rhythms of “Vagrant in the Chamber of Night” where we are in that circus metal vertigo state of the late 90’s/early 2000’s even if it doesn’t hit quite as clownish today.

As we are guided through the second LP’s worth of music your first impression absolutely no longer matters in gathering the whole of ‘Throne of the Lunar Soul‘, an album which offers excess first and substantive melodic ideas second when we consider the full berth of this creation. While the initial flood of ideas from the band offer engaging, tightly whipped work which speaks to the exuberant hi-fi weirding of old… things don’t necessarily go the way of ‘Sons of Northern Darkness‘ from there, getting a bit lost in the atmospheric dwelling of “Holy Matricide” before the title track gives use a hymnal melodic metal ballad which goes a bit overboard even for my taste. On repeated listens this’d been the most common roadblock per the overall flow and ease of the full listen, a place of pooling dramatism which I never quite connected with sans context, and I suppose a big part of what is missing per my own experience is not having access to the lyrics which might’ve made sense of this final arc in this section of the greater narrative.

After sitting with this album here-and-there for roughly three months and giving it plenty of room to sink or swim I’d come out of it appreciating the ambitious variety and staging of its full listen while also finding a few points far more effective than others. Prior Valdrin albums were packed tightly with action, front to back killers for the most part, and here they’ve only just filled the second half of the experience with enough interest to merge with the aggressive momentum built in the first half. In revealing a kinda jaunty, less netherworld depicted portion of thier greater realm ‘Throne of the Lunar Soul‘ occasionally feels over-extended, unable to resolve the limitations of the late second wave yet I’d still place its wares well above-average when considered as an ambitious whole. Some of these observations might shift one way or another once I get a full lyrics sheet, though, as the lore behind their work has always been well worth a read and to the point that they typically help characterize the experience well beyond the usual extreme metal lyricism. A high recommendation.

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