Valosta Varjoon - Das Flammenmeer DIGI-CD

german Black Metal

VALOSTA VARJOON formed in 2016 as a solo endeavor of V. V., who currently also numbers NACHTIG and COSMIC BURIAL among his endeavors. A first demo was released the following year, but in 2018 was V. V. joined by guitarist Sturmwulf, and thereafter did the VALOSTA VARJOON aesthetic truly begin to blossom. A split tape with Mexican comrades Viha Surma came in 2018, and then in early 2019, PURITY THROUGH FIRE delivered the German & Slavonic Heathen Unity split CD, with VALOSTA VARJOON joined by Czarnobog and Necro Forest.

Alas, later in 2019, all those short-length attacks coalesced into one mighty debut album with Oberpfälzer Wald. With preternatural ease, VALOSTA VARJOON created infinitely stirring & nostalgic sounds from black metal's glorious 1990s era. Castles, cloaks, swords, snow - all these sensations were evoked, and plenty more, with a sound that's the epitome of Bavarian Black Metal.

Striking while the iron's hot, little more than a year later do VALOSTA VARJOON return with another mighty full-length statement: Das Flammenmeer. Thankfully, no great changes have been made to their ever-sturdy sound; if anything, their attack's grown more robust and epic in equal measure. There's still a constantly ascending sensation, but subtly so, like the eternal grasping for greatness inherent in strident individualism. Further, VALOSTA VARJOON finesse their masterful textures with riffing that's rich with emotion and now even heroism - neither of those overwrought, it must be said - with hooks economically introduced and then maximized with a hypnotic hummability, all before seamlessly flowing into the next. It's a cold 'n' majestic magick, just like Oberpfälzer Wald, but here on Das Flammenmeer is it delivered with more punch and more professionalism, all without sacrificing the ideals of traditional black metal.

Stern but ever-knowing, German black metal has lurked on the shadowy periphery for decades, mindfully mining quality over quantity and subtlety over ostentatiousness. A profound new iteration of the Olde arrived with Oberpfälzer Wald, and VALOSTA VARJOON continue their march into the halls of legend with Das Flammenmeer!