VEHEMENZ

Following in the footsteps of the modern wave of French black metal, Germany's VEHEMENZ formed in 2010 in Hammelburg with the unusual lineup of six members that consisted of Letharg (guitar, vocals), Monolith Aversion (guitar, vocals), Furor (drums), Inclusus (vocals), Obscurus (bass) and Aquarius Igneus (guitar). Although technically still in existence so far this sextet has released only one self-titled album in 2014 that came out on the MDD label which has spawned many underground metal artists.

Forged in the fiery pits of hell, VEHEMENZ which features members from various previous bands including Krew, Atopie and Demgoroth unleashed its debut of ravaging black metal that offered a taste of jangly spider guitars of the Deathspell Omega playbook while evoking various German bands like Bethlehem and Agrypnie as source inspiration. Likewise the band showcases a frenetic tremolo based guitar style reminiscent of the typical second wave black metal scene while alternating slower passages with more outlandish rampages.

The band's claim to fame is that it hosts three guitarists which all work together to assault the senses with heavy riffing, spooky arpeggios and distorted dissonance and dismay. The percussion varies from fully fueled blastbeats to more contemplative lackadaisical time keepers just chugging along. Unlike many black metal albums, the bass is quite distinct as the instrumentation allows for cracks in the flow for every sound to rise out of the crevices into an aural spectral range. Most compared to Agrypnie for its song structures, the band's overall sound is like a murky mix of atmospheric black metal, blackgaze and post-metal.

At times the music is caustic and at others very epic sounding with the concluding 9-minute track "Der Traum ... Im Chaos Verient" offering a more relaxed procession through the moods and dynamics VEHEMENZ delivers on their sole release. For whatever reason this band stopped cold after this 2014 debut and has been M.I.A. for the last decade with only vocalist / drummer Furor emerging in the band Heimleiden since. Overall VEHEMENZ delivered a solid black metal release but unfortunately the album also doesn't really stand out significantly in any particular way. Despite the three guitar shtick it's mostly not even apparent that three guitars are clamoring away rather than two. Decent and competent but not original enough to be considered any sort of classic by any means.

3.5 rounded down