A prison defiled in nefarious escape, a conjured realm collapsed, and a celestial body rendered unto cemeterial void the wake of our antagonist now turns to channel an eon’s soak within noxious dark arts in order to carry out his vile world-rending scheme. Imbued with poisonous intensity and ringing dissonant in the ears of all who’d oppose their coming possessor Cincinnati, Ohio-based melodic black metal quartet VALDRIN return with a fifth chapter within their ongoing mythic-level nightside saga. Their latest EP release ‘Apex Violator‘ returns to the havoc and dementia behind the eyes of Nex Animus, a dense and morbidly waltzing thread which thickens the plot within their ongoing lore-heavy theme. This calls for a harsher climate and the hurried tension of earlier releases in some sense but carries through some of the panache of their most recent LP as well.

Valdrin have been incredibly consistent since forming in 2010, breaching the anxious acumen of blackened death metal and atmospheric black metal as they craft dense, oft progressive-in-feel music in the spirit of late 90’s/early 2000’s melodious and “symphonic” sounds. I’ve written in excess of their discography over the last three releases and those reviews’d serve as fitting primers just the same. As I’d approached ‘Apex Violator‘ in the context of a full discography refresher course, remembering none of their work outright I wasn’t all that sure what I’d been such a fan of in the past. This is for the sake of the complexity and immediacy of their presentation, busied exaggerative beyond the “melodic” tag might suggest in such a primary position. Their heralded prior release (‘Throne of the Lunar Soul‘, 2023) was incredibly ambitious but lacking in the density of forms past releases had expressed. Stretching out a bit and resembling certain virtues of bands like Limbonic Art, Diabolical Masquerade and Ancient while twisting them toward the irrational, often somewhat technical rhythms made for an aggressive idea with reminiscent of old gear. The move toward bigger, more ambitious songs doesn’t directly translate to the style of this EP as we’ll find this music suits the experiences of a different character.

As you might recall my review of the previous release from the band appreciated the lead guitar driven spectacle and increasingly atmospheric venture of the group as a reasonable “epic” step away from the symphonic black/death attuned density of their sophomore LP (‘Two Carrion Talismans‘, 2018) but I’d not thought this was a representation of the main character in their lore, Valdrin Ausadjur. The bigger picture gathers in this sense as these perceived points of stylistic evolution and capability may just as well be seen as intentional depictions of atmosphere apropos of the realms (and characters) featured in any given release. The Ausadjur mythos from guitarist/vocalist Carter Hicks is fittingly complex on a nigh nonsensical level when summarized but I’ll suggest that for example ‘Two Carrion Talismans‘ dealt with the conjuration of the Orcus underworld and that album’s tonal relation to ‘Effigy of Nightmares‘ which portrayed a sub-level of Orcus in a ‘mad scientist lair’ known as Hospitium Mortis as well as the torments of antagonist Nex Animus. Each were somewhat tonally different from the band’s fourth LP which took us beyond the decimation of Earth to Ausadjur from the protagonist Valdrin‘s perspective. In this sense ‘Apex Violator‘ feels like a return to earlier density of forms, once again embodying antagonist Nex Animus as he foments beyond his experiences imprisoned in Orcus, poisoning his soul to become the possessor of the kingdom. Anyhow, the suggestion is that this is a continuation of the story adjacent to ‘Throne of the Lunar Soul‘ and some of its insights are carried through but you may appreciate the style of this record more if you were hot for the band’s second album in particular, it has that vibe.

With that in mind you’d do well to approach ‘Apex Violator‘ expecting taut rhythms, a band of adventurers with all shoulders hiked and readied to shred through aggressively shaken loose riffs. Set in cyclic downturn and outlined by sauntering atmospheric traipse every piece here ultimately bears a noxious immediacy to their dizzying grooves and rattled, melodious exposition, a fevered 90’s black metal circus strangely reconfigured into erratic lilt. I’d pick “Ignite the Murder Shrine” (alternately opener “Poison Soul Vents”) as the most outright idealized version of this dynamic as it’s rushed-out movement and piano/keys-plumbed tarantella line up to meet the circular stride of their dance around the mid-point. This whorl of maniacal interest provides a most direct example of Valdrin returning to their chaotic realm a bit more wise and weary within their arrangements, attacking this darker character’s depiction. They’ve not escaped from the late 90’s symphonic/melodic black metal verbage in any sense, creating havoc in contrast to the prior release’s sprawling fantastical illustrative style while still making room for a rock guitar solo to root the piece nearby the end. That said there is a caustic dissonant thread rummaging through this record which characterizes it just as much those perceived points of sophistication gained.

The discord sowed via the roughed-in jaggedness of the riff which opens “Black Imperial Smoke” is almost Voivod-esque but also increasingly characteristic of Valdrin‘s repertoire. This is hardly the main spectacle of the piece as the ghost hymnal clean-sung movements which hit around ~1:33 minutes briefly illuminate the song to its most memorable point. The shape of the song is repetitious but linear in the path it takes and this is where I’d felt the band transcend direct, or at least practical comparison to 90’s extreme metal, specifically popular Norwegian black metal songcraft. I might recall that thought in the face of “The Muttering Derelict” and its industrial-feeling grooves but in general the second half of ‘Apex Violator‘ emphasizes dissonant progression and chasm-ringing riffcraft more often, the peak being within the battlements of “Veins of Akasha”. The seven minute closer would end up being one of my favorite pieces from this release and maybe the band at this point. The more they deal with those nauseating, dissonant but kicking pieces and the skronk turns sinister it feels like they’ve embodied this poisoned possessor character brilliantly with a black metal ‘Angel Rat‘ sort of deal on the tip of their tongues.

There is a wrathful, fittingly malevolent channel cut through this release which I’d found resonated as a fan indoctrinated by the accost of Valdrin‘s earlier work while also continually stunned by the sinister current they bring within their melodic stance(s). ‘Apex Violator‘ is especially potent in its triple-wielding of consonant, drifting and woefully jagged rhythmic interest but more importantly this serves a fully functioning, capable beast in command of their their milling writhe of parts. It isn’t their most melodious or epic creation to date but the dark and malicious wavelength they’re on here has proven intense but wholly entertaining on my end. A high recommendation.

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