Uada: Devoid of Light (2016)

The Uada concert a couple months ago turned out to be one of my favorite concerts I have attended in quite some time.  I thoroughly enjoyed each of the bands so much that I decided to buy an album from each of them.  Wormwitch and Cloak will be coming soon.  From Uada, I picked up the band's debut album which I was surprised to see still available at their merch table.

Uada seems a bit more influenced by a combination of the Polish black metal scene (particularly groups like Mgła) and the more melodic black metal bands from Sweden (Dissection, Lord Belial, Naglfar).  Their music is cold, but has some impressive melodies weaving their way through the dark and cold atmosphere.  Most of the songs are structured around one or two main riffs and layer solos, drumming and the gruff vocals on top.  But this relative simplicity works for Uada because it makes the songs catchy as hell.  The groove that Uada locks into certainly helps as well.

The last two songs are the big highlights.  The first three songs are fine, but nothing really special, but Uada really gets going on the second half, starting off with the terrific "Our Pale Departure" and then continuing with the neck-breaking "Black Autumn, White Spring".  I remember the latter quite well from the concert and was blown away by it then.  It absolutely slays, particularly the second half.

This is Uada's debut album and it was a terrific initial release.  Uada has made a lot of noise among the American black metal scene and this album shows that the hype is deserved.  They are even better in concert.

Uada, Wormwitch and Cloak in Omaha: April 16, 2019

On Tuesday night, I decided to head to the Slowdown in order to catch an underground black metal concert.  I'm not sure how Omaha managed to get such a lineup, but I'm not complaining.  I just discovered Uada earlier this year, after missing out on a couple of albums.  I saw Wormwitch opening a concert with The Black Dahlia Murder as the headliner.  Cloak was completely new to me.  Well, cheap ticket prices and the opportunity to see the kind of bands that I rarely get to see drew me in.  And I'm damn glad I went.

Cloak was the opener and they were massively impressive.  They play a kind of blackened heavy metal/rock music.  They are extremely catchy with great hooks and rollicking riffs.  They played a few songs, primarily off of their 2017 album, which I picked up at the show.  They were definitely one of the more impressive bands I have discovered live.

Wormwitch was next and they impressed me yet again.  I never got around to picking up an album after seeing them for the first time two years ago.  I was not going to make that mistake again, because their ferocious brand of black metal/punk was utterly devastating. 

And last came Uada.  Even though there was a band called Cloak on the bill, Uada was the only band who actually took the stage wearing cloaks.  They also used the hell out of a fog machine and had bright lights on the stage.  The effect of all of this was that the band looked like shadows playing on the stage.  They were terrific, pulling songs from each of their terrific albums.  I was slightly concerned going in that they would not play "Mirrors", my favorite track from last year's Cult of a Dying Sun, but they played it very close to the end. 

This was one of the best concerts I have been to in quite awhile.  I was initially unsure of attending, but am damn glad I did.  All three groups were terrific, and I picked up albums from each of them from the merch tables as a result.  Amazing concert.

Uada: Cult of a Dying Sun (2018)

Uada is a band whose name I had heard thrown about quite a bit in the last couple of years, particularly due to the hype when they released Devoid of Light a few years back.  But I did not have much of a chance to check them out until just recently, and I have to say that I am damn glad that I did.

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.