Vahrzaw – Twin Suns & Wolves’ Tongues

Vahrzaw brings us death metal from Australia, and despite this being only their second album, the band has been around since the early 90’s in some form. “Twin Suns & Wolves’ Tongues” is a solid offering of hatred, not unlike bands such as Deicide or Marduk. There is so much seething anger that the band has on this album. Over the course of 8 tracks and 32 minutes, they present an album that provides brutality, speed, aggression, and even some melody. In fact, it might be a bit of a misnomer to call them death metal. There is a lot of black metal influence here. From the spitting venom of vocalist George van Doorn, to the use of melodic leads, to even some of the tremolo-picking choices, there is certainly a lot of black metal influence on “Twin Suns & Wolves’ Tongues”. With that said, the reason death metal is an appropriate tag is largely because of the song structures. There are a lot of brutal riffs coming from the low end of the guitar. Additionally, the entire album consists of more than just blasting and shrieked vocals.

This album is filled with highlights and great moments. “…On The Shoulders of Giants” features the best guitar work on the album, as there is some serious shredding followed by some great leads. The very next track, “Endroom” brings us back to the Swedish black metal scene, as it quickly delivers some Dissection worship. The melody in this section, accompanied by the simplistic drumming (with plenty of abuse on the ride cymbal) is brilliant, and is by far my favourite sound in black metal. It doesn’t last too long, but it really gives the track a feel impending doom. The rest of the songs are relatively similar, and while there are still other enjoyable tracks, these two are definitely my favourite. On the whole, there is not a single weak moment to be found on the album; even when they are blasting away, there is purpose to it. The production is almost flawless. Just enough clarity to hear every instrument (bass included), but not too clear so as to ruin the atmosphere. The guitars are crunchy and heavy when they're playing riffs, yet incredibly smooth when soloing. The only weak spot in the production is that the bass drums are somewhat in the back. They're still easy to hear, but not quite as loud as one would hope for. Nevertheless, that is a small complaint considering how good the rest of the album sounds.

Vahrzaw has put together a really impressive extreme metal album. They’ve shed all of the bad elements of death and black metal, leaving only what makes those subgenres great. As a result, this album turns out to be a hate-filled experience of pure bliss. The riffs are brilliant; the drumming is even better, and the vocals will cause even the tamest individuals anger. This is certainly a unique combination of death and black metal, but it is one well worth hearing!

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Highlights

"...On The Shoulders of Giants"

"Endroom"

"Twin Suns & Wolves' Tongues"

Final Rating

4.3/5 or 86%. 

Written by Scott