Melodic black metal is a style that is not overly popular with the uber-kvlt black metal fans. I have no idea why that might be. After all, I'm not sure there is any better genre description for a group like Dissection for instance, and their status as legends in the black metal scene is as unimpeachable as any of the Norwegian bands in the early 1990's. And so Uada, a melodic black metal band, has as many detractors as they do people who absolutely love them. And after hearing this album, I fall firmly in the latter category.
Musically, Uada has far more in common with groups like Lord Belial and Naglfar than Dissection. Their riffs are a bit more simplistic and the focus is on making catchier songs than really drawing out the cold atmosphere as Dissection does. Most of the songs are fairly long, only two are much less than eight minutes in length, but it never really seems like it is that long. The songs flow naturally and freely, making this an easy album to sit down and really delve into. It helps that the repeated and wandering riffs have the effect of being almost hypnotic, a sure sign that this band is from the metal hotbed of Portland, Oregon.
Despite the ease at which this album can be listened to, it is no less harsh and hostile. It is a melodic black metal album, but that does not mean the music is particularly pretty. Uada is clearly influenced by hateful black metal bands like Behemoth and raise an unholy ruckus throughout the release. Of particular note is the blazing guitar leads in "Sphere (Imprisonment)" and the blistering album closer "Mirrors". With its tremolo riffing and infectious hooks, "Mirrors" comes closest to matching the cold, wintry sound of Dissection.
This is yet another album I wish I had heard a few months earlier, it would have been very high on my Top Albums list. Uada is coming to Omaha in a few weeks. I am looking forward to checking them out live.
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