Vanvid: Hol (2017)

This is another one of those releases I have picked up ostensibly to check out a band from a country that does not have many metal bands.  Vanvid is from Iceland.  And like Tunisia's Ayyur from a couple of weeks ago, Vanvid is a black metal band.  Not surprising as I discussed at the time.

Hol is Vanvid's debut demo, their first and thus far, only recording.  The group is made up of just two members: a singer and one person who plays all of the instruments.  The release was apparently recorded in the span of one ten-hour session, which is insane enough, but it was also largely improvised. 

This thing sounds extremely dark and twisted.  It is largely based on second wave Norwegian black metal (primarily Burzum) with a little bit of stuff like Silencer and Shining thrown in.  The riffs are mostly simple, but there is an incredibly dark and malevolent atmosphere surrounding everything.  The almost psychotic shrieking of the vocals certainly helps.  The ambient sections are particularly unsettling.  The last track is 14 minutes of extremely eerie noise, for instance.  I probably could have done without it, but it fits well with the rest of the disturbing sound.

This is an interesting release.  I would not recommend it to someone just getting into black metal, it takes a seasoned ear to understand it.  It's a very unsettling release.  Be warned.