At one with the psychic exhaustion of survival and resigned to the never-ending storms eroding what habitable climes lie ahead Reykjavík, Iceland-based black metal quintet MANNVEIRA view mankind’s horizon as that of a plague and host in concert, a relationship as effective in its own extinction as it’s reign. Frontloaded with dramatic gloom and inventive rhythmus the band’s sophomore full-length album, ‘Vesöld‘, emits inward-trenched nihil as a point of purpose whilst transforming a blur of melodic, post-black and dissonant ideas into corridors of disdain and despair. Though the temperament and general alchemy of their sound stand intact the quintet appear transformed unto post-black sleekness here, thankfully without casting aside the bleak severity returning ears should appreciate.

Mannveira formed by way of vocalist, guitarist and bassist Illugi Kristinsson (ex-Abacination) circa 2010 as the musician took a handful of years to develop a nihil-borne Icelandic black metal sound. The result of those solo efforts was an EP (‘Von Er Eitur‘, 2014) that’d featured Úlfúð‘s drummer providing session work, a set of three songs taking from both regional and other nearby Norse ideals for its dissonant haunt. A full line-up was concocted within a year of their first release featuring folks you’d recognize from Naðra and Andavald with a split and eventually a debut LP (‘Vítahringur‘, 2021) resulting from their collaboration. The primal, existentially fraught call of that debut was notably less concerned with blazing pace than any peer I could suggest for the time though their approach was vaguely similar to Carpe Noctem and with vocals brayed a la Forsmán. A recreation of the bleakly cast obsidian atmosphere generated on that debut amounts to the sole expectation I’d set for this follow up a half-decade beyond.

For ‘Vesöld‘ most of the same folks contributed but every role in Mannveira has since been altered with Kristinsson now providing vocals solely, their former bassist now playing guitar (but playing bass on record), and members of Forsmán, Naðra and Altari joining otherwise. Their voice remains the same in the most literal sense, a contained throat-wrecking scream with a fatal ledge’s worth of space echoing beneath it, but their rhythmic authorship and tri-layered guitar driven vernacular have been heartily rejiggered. The busier rhythm section set behind opener “Lygar himinsins” carries a dramatic staggered stride, adding to the dark intensity of its ranting voice while quickly differentiating itself from the stark air and slower stabbing motions of ‘Vítahringur‘. Though the finesse of the guitar work here is illustrious outright it is the basslines which bring some immediate distinction to the album’s first impression, at least on my part.

The dissonance-tipped semi-melodic soldiery of the opener giving way to the inward seeking bass-fronted groove that opens “Þrot” is one of the finest transitional moments on the full listen. The song itself has a post-black dismay hanging over its winding rhythms, bringing a sort of ‘Fire Dances‘-esque bop before picking up to a rattling pace. The tension built across this song amidst its many ringing layers intoxicates, not unlike the best of Polish (Furia esp.) and Netherlands post-black today, eventually releasing in nonchalant waves. Those first two pieces offer a good sampling what greater modus Mannveira bring to this second album, strong basslines and morose moderne guitar layers providing many moving gears for the ear to parse in passage, but these are steps in succession within a contiguous evolving thread.

By the time we’ve hit “Stormur” on the running order Mannveira begin to veer closer to something like earlier Karg within the second half of the song thanks to their cold vocal cadence and the melodious jog through its second half. This part of the record fell somewhat flat for my taste and not so much for the forlorn dream-rock of it all but the sameness achieved within each corridor offered, a fight between consistent focus and a lack of new rhythmic ideas to carry their channeling on. The heated peak of this approach is probably “Bölvunin” the most dramatic of the steadfast striders that link the album’s two halves. My favorite part of the piece is probably the later orthodox black scented hang around ~3:06 minutes in but I can’t say that ‘Vesöld‘ caught my attention all that often beyond punkish rally through closer “Rottur”. If it isn’t a cover song (Thule?) it comes way out of left field and with great timing.

Though the stylistic evolution of Mannveira isn’t uniformly inspiring per my own taste the capture of this record is especially fine, detailed but voluminous with great emphasis on the rhythm section’s command. Likewise the band’s curation of artwork/design is fittingly evocative for an album themed on misery and collapse. As a modern dip into the current Icelandic black metal psyche ‘Vesöld‘ upholds a brilliantly high standard without escaping the scathe of the sub-genre with regional affect in mind, though I believe this one will attract post-black ears moreso than the 2010’s-era abysm of earlier releases. A moderately high recommendation.

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