Vanguard to the myriad consciousnesses, attuned to the projections of all three spiritual planes, and in conjure of ageless ideology Atlanta, Georgia-based black metal quartet VIMUR seeks commune with the primordial nothingness in depiction of the corporeal and psychic wars eternally waged against the illusory self-importance of man. Their own Luciferian current aimed to strike out the second sun, ‘The Timeless Everpresent‘, arrives charged with frenzied energy as a fourth full-length album should, slung with chest abroad and weaponry in hand by way of the warrior’s path and purpose. Though the complete evolutionary step found herein makes sense at face value the path has been jagged with each album taking a spiraling leap up toward its next destination, this is not the greatest rocket up-forth but a refinement of the artist’s voice to a supranatural degree.

Vimur formed circa 2006 by way of main composer, vocalist and guitarist Vaedis Eosphorus but remained in the works until 2010 and 2014 released demo tapes had been realized as a solo act that the project was officially present and accounted for. That solo configuration would eventually produce a debut LP (‘Traversing the Ethereal Current‘, 2014) before a proper quartet and touring band were sorted out beyond that point. From that point infamy was slow built, deliberately sourcing their best points of progress for a natural progression with a few leaps made along the way. While I’d written about related projects (Striges, Hellgoat) and such it in the past wasn’t until their third album, ‘Transcendental Violence‘ (2022), released that I’d had a chance to write about their body of work with any real vigor, describing their sound in an unusually direct manner in review: “They’re fast, ‘epic’ in scope, melodic by default and provide more than a few curveballs to the attuned ear as they crush away at a riff-after-riff aligned experience.” where songs like “Aeonic Upheaval” and the title track stood out immediately and made for a beyond notable USBM release, one with clear concern for the spiritual traditions of classic melodic black metal, the waves beyond presented via Sargeist, and maybe even similar atmospheric innovators such as Mgła. Approaching this new album blind I would say my expectations were somewhere nearby Häxanu‘s ‘Totenpass‘ in terms of fluidly blazing riff-driven black metal with an ancient yet still nowadays atmospheric presence.

Tohu wa-bohu. — The wind blows, thunder cracks, and the echoing outline of post-punk derived chord shapes scatters into full melodic black press and the rain breaks from the clouds as we step from brief opening salvo of “Resacralization” into opener “Fire, Glory and Thinking”, a touting of the weaponry of gnosis and a riveting dance between what is decidedly not derived from ancient melodic idiom and the dramatism available to Vimur‘s rushed-out, nigh post-black treatment of precision guitar hook after hook at stabbing speed. Right away we can feel their work splitting the difference between tradition and innovation, not unlike the harder-edged melodic/post-black groups out of Germany today where the blood-rushing speed and ‘Far Away From the Sun‘-esque sluice of the drum recordings is both a blustering storm and a contemplative beast. Not every moment of this opener is tacked together with seamless connection made but this’d only added to the abrupt, explosive feeling of this revelation and its slow-to-calm statement.

From this opening song and toward the center of their fast-striking, quickly shifting movement it becomes necessary to prompt the ear to Vimur‘s focus on the use of what I’d consider modern melodic devices, not unlike the less cloyingly stated and/or rocking movements of Uada where a certain emphasis on slow-ringing arpeggiated motions and more mid-paced, slower pieces emphasizes sentimentality as the major language of UBSM dramatism, having strong roots in both classic late 90’s black metal ideals as well as 2010’s atmospheric post-everything tongue wagging. This makes for an album that still thrives on fast-paced gusts of melodious riffcraft (“Astride the Centuries” et al.) but also one that is raring to sprawl into its own ‘epic’, Immortal-esque register to better illustrate the battlefield and conflict in mind. “Sons of Another Light” is arguably our first direct to ear drum taste of this with its thrashing ex-death metal grooves yet this is only one side of their late 80’s Bathory-esque visage, in their left hand we find a more direct example of this new-found patience and pacing on standout “Wound Window” once again making sinister use of rock guitar tenacity but this time to create a folken heavy metal trod through.

As substantial as every moment is here on just the first three or so pieces ‘The Timeless Everpresent‘ moves quickly and covers a lot of ground, scrolling past with a cold and unwavering decisiveness that does not fully supplant the all-out roaring style found on ‘Transcendental Violence‘. Though the opener has some of that fire so does it carry through the attack of “The Cold Only We Know” and closer “Astride the Centuries”, so, if you are looking for an exact repeat of said barrage you won’t find direct re-reruns here but all of that capability retained and reserved for a few key points of impact herein. Per my own experience the album only just felt like it’d warmed up as the fifth or so track shot past, never quite able to shake the sensation that Vimur‘s work was accelerating the passage of time and making a ~41 minute album feel like it’d struck closer to a half hour.

This’ll be even more of a surprise once you’re neck deep into Side B and hit more of those kinetic late 90’s Norse grooves (“Fortress of a New Faith”) and their exaggerated step into heady, dreamlike meander eventually landing upon what I’d considered the focal peak and most unexpected piece on the full listen “The Embrace of Merciless Indifference” as the extended ‘epic’ and a song which is decidedly patient in developing the intricacy of its statement, and even including some unexpected clean vocals which help deepen the wonder of the piece as we reach its peaking depth. Though some of these events were a surprise to start I’d found this was the resonant high of the full listen, a natural ebb towards the end and nothing I’d have expected with consideration for past work. This thought carries through to the end with the aforementioned finale of “Astride the Centuries” a Sacramentum-esque piece which breaks into its own slow-going interjection in the midst of its snarling, melodramatic climb back to speed; The full listen of ‘The Timeless Everpresent‘ floats in and out of sight as if smoke escaping into the cold night air, acrid yet warming to some degree as it communicates something viably emotive and/or grand in the quick-shot and heavy handed thrust of its designs.

The nagging thought in mind beyond the hype of discovery and the throes of ecstatic enjoyment felt in a familiarized state was a sense that a sizable dent hadn’t been made, at least not without lyrics to fully bite into. While I enjoy this theme and spiritual focus in black metal more than most I can only assume the details to a certain point, leaving the depth of experience shouldered by strong performances which range from elite black metal magick to tormented grooves. What pushes Vimur‘s efforts toward the above-average threshold once again rests in the conviction of their delivery rather than the exacting detail or outright tuneful reach of it. As I’d suggested earlier, ‘The Timeless Everpresent‘ flowed through me as if I were too porous a vessel for its fineries and while the exciting sensation of passage and pulsating spiritual craft was sustaining to a strong degree I’m not sure it’d made an enormous dent beyond the major thrill of discovery. Even still, in this day and age that is well beyond the typical standard, when taking stock of how this release fits into their greater discography it is clear they’re on an impressive upward-shot trajectory, or, have achieved solid placement in terms of the personage achieved in the span of four well-considered, meaningfully applied albums. A high recommendation.

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