Hot on the heels of this band’s EP “IEI” comes this album. That EP hit us like a blunt sword, indulging in a vibrant form of black metal not unlike Windir, while plunging along the way into atmospheric melancholy. No details came with this but I fully expected something similarly harsh and incisive.
Thunder breaks out. From ominous beginnings grim black metal tones emerge and forge ahead energetically and forcefully. Dominance is achieved by the upbeat melody, not by simply dragging us down as is the wont of some black artists. “Death II” starts in a similar vein. There are strains of epic melancholy. The drums hammer furiously and purposefully. The rasping, echoing vocals have a distant quality. The pure style of black metal continues with “Lunacy of Memories”. Drums pound in the ferocious atmosphere. The vocalist rants on amid this ball of fury. After an introduction which can be likened to marching into war, “The Crown with Silver Thorns” resumes the all-encompassing assault. Only a reflective passage interrupts the forward-driving progress. A surprising heavy metal solo intervenes but the essence of “The Crown with Silver Thorns” is that imperious assault. By way of contrast “Zorza II” takes us into the dark cosmos before we are plunged into the dark fog of “Danse Macabre”. It’s a Burzumesque type world, full of gloom and power and melancholic, epic intent. The gloomy feel is maintained on “Under the Reign of the Black Moon”. The sound cranks up and winds and tension are whipped up in the harsh and menacing atmosphere. Appropriately the album ends with a cover of the Windir track “Journey to the End”. The folksy black metal isn’t far from Zorza’s core, and so the album ends with a familiar romp before we drift away into space.
Once again Zorza regale us with a range of dark atmospheres, but I didn’t sense the range that was present on their “IEI” ep. It wasn’t until “Under the Reign of the Black Moon” that I really felt the layers of intensity build up. To that point the atmosphere, albeit ferocious and harsh and sometimes gloomy, for me lacked real personality or direction. But in spite of this “Hellven” is a genuine manifestation of black metal and all that that entails.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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