Vreid have all the hallmarks of a band on the cusp of a big break and the attitude, talent and drive to back it up. Their catalogue is teeming with the kind of consistency that many other bands only dream of and with tunes that, on recent form at least, felt like they were edging ever closer to accessibility. They were also nominated for a Grammy in their Norwegian homeland for their last outing, the emphatically titled V. Meanwhile, last year, they became the first metal band to play the modernist architect’s wet dream that is Oslo’s National Opera House.
Of course, such accolades are great for rock stars but can turn off underground fans like an ice cold shower with Pope Benedict XVI (ok, I accept that some of you reading this might find that erotic but, I assure you, you are in a tiny minority). On the other hand, if we take these developments alongside a touring schedule that makes my liver bleed with sympathy – and a new album, Welcome Farewell, which turns away from the light that shone on V and back towards darker waters – what we are really looking at is a metal band that means business.
Wrapping themselves in the shadow cast by the legendary Windir and the untimely death of Valfar was never part of the plan for Vreid. They wouldn’t have been the first band to pick themselves up and carry on after calamity had struck. But they moved swiftly away from the Viking vision with a new theme and a sound that required nothing of the old fan base other than they continued to venerate the old while following an entirely new band. It was a testament to the band’s competence that they created that new vision with what seemed like so little effort. The new path may not have appealed to all. But no one could criticise them for following that path with such intent and purpose.
Vreid specialise in a caustic rock and roll thrash punctuated with black metal crescendos – enough to drag most people from the bar area of any venue. Their sixth release, Welcome Farewell, epitomises that approach but with, if anything, a stronger affinity with their older work than continuing where V left off. V suggested that Vreid was perhaps toying with more progressive tendencies. Welcome Farewell is darker and less compromising. A great big slab of blackened thrash n’ roll.
The first track The Ramble begins with a typically Vreid intro. Something that sounds like a melancholy orchestral piece played over an old wireless radio. It then kicks off with a mid-paced thrash before breaking into a semi-automatic blitz. With the crescendo that kicks off the second-half of the track it’s all classic Vreid encapsulated in one track, but done with renewed vigour.
The pace notches up to an unbeatable black thrash explosion on track two Way of the Serpent which I can only imagine would be jaw dropping live. Then The Devil’s Hand strikes back with a more rock inspired riff to calm things down a bit before the title track heads off on another thrash-led overdrive and a euphoric burst to finish. Track number six, Sights of Old, sees Vreid flexing their creative muscles with its dark tones and a thoughtful Floydian finale. As someone who wouldn’t have minded more of that, the second half is the more interesting one. The shimmering goth of Black Waves and then the thrash stomper At The Brook help to round things off to make another solid album.
But it’s a retrenchment rather than a continuation of what has gone before. No new dawn, but the mark of a band that already knows where it is heading and doesn’t have to make any side deals to get there. For me, Vreid’s plan to stick to the knitting and hone their craft is a firm indication of that. The blueprint doesn’t need redrafting because it’s already guiding the way. Welcome Farewell is one more step along a road that will help cast Vreid’s legacy in the darkest stone.
(8.5/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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