Given how revered the early days of black metal have become for all the right reasons, it's no surprise that we're still very much in a time where people are still seeking to perpetuate that very sound in bands of their own. Creative innovation in terms of pushing the boundaries of the sound are not an option when you're looking to continue a sound that is no less than highly exalted in your eyes. Just as easily as it can lead to a stale performance from a largely uninspired act, it can lead to someone with real passion recreating the sound in their own image while never once shedding those original flavors. With its eponymous debut, Vanwa accomplishes that is spectacular fashion.
Pulling straight from the likes of Windir and Dissection to bring its first album to life with all the notes that one could expect from that era of black metal, Vanwa surpasses plenty of expectations that one would have for this particular vein. Where some constantly fall into the same pits of recycling the same material over and over again with poor production quality and often tiresome songwriting that it turns more people away rather than offering any sort of justice for the inspiring material or even adding some personality to make the new material at least somewhat original. In each of the five tracks that are offered here, Vanwa expertly dodges such pitfalls at practically every given opportunity. Atmospheric, melodic, and very much in tune with the spirits of winter themselves, Vanwa channels only the very best of what this specific corner of black metal has always been revered for with it all being pulled off to dramatic effect and with results that are simply tantalizing to bear witness to as Vanwa shows us at practically every turn that where many others have failed, this act more than succeeds - it conquers! This is a debut that heralds in a thick blanket of snow as the tapestry of night takes its dominion as the spell-binding nature of Vanwa quickly takes effect to make for one of the best and most faithful homages to that classic vein that many of us have looked up to for decades.
Vanwa does nothing but demonstrate an immense love and respect for the classic vein of black metal with every given minute of the record presenting us with one testament to that fact after another resulting in a creation that doesn't just easily stand out from much of what many contemporary acts are able to pull off, but show us that Vanwa is certainly a name that is to be remembered from here on it. What's been done here is nothing short of what many hope to bring to the table for their own efforts, and Vanwa immediately shows off just how masterful it already is with its very first creation.
LISTEN to "Vanwa" on Bandcamp here.
FOLLOW Vanwa on Instagram here.
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