Valdur-Pathetic Scum
- By Aeonis
- Aug 30, 2015
- 4 min read
Valdur is a California based band coming out with an old sound which is an almost Blackend Death feel. Production is low, but hey, sometimes it is what you can afford, right? Good thing is that you can hear all of the instruments if you concentrate on the musical instruments. The drumming is very well executed producing ferocious blast beats and hammer hard fast tremolo picking on the rhythm section. The vocals are dark growls that aide in the dark atmosphere of their sound.
The best thing is when a band is asked to describe themselves, and here Valdur wrote that they are one of America's best kept secrets. Ok you know where I am going with this. Valdur is like Victoria's "BIG" secret, the only problem is the they should probably never be revealed. Ok that was cruel but when bands use those stupid clichés then they leave themselves open to it. That said Valdur is not a bad band, but just not very good. Ok, sorry that was cruel too, but in reality what are they offering us? Well kind of like that really awful band Mayhem, which doesn't demonstrate any signs of originality or creative new songs other than the steadfastness of Hellhammer on drums (but that is another review). Valdur really does not offer anything new. They have been around since like 1999 and came on the scene in 2005, but have not grown or been able to venture forth with a style that keeps me captivated. They began with poor production, dark growls and a lot of reverb, and ten years later they have a new CD for 2015 with poor production, dark growls and a lot of reverb. And I went to their web page and they seem like descent guys trying to make their mark, but unfortunately these guys just don't get it. What don't they get, well for one thing that musicians or in general artists are supposed to grow in time, or at least the talented ones. Think of Slayer they started with heavy diminished chords, reverb, fast riffs and one solo for every song (like AC/DC- one drum beat for every song). Years later Slayer still has diminished chords, fast riffs and still the same solo for every song with the exception of the removal of the reverb, and Valdur just doesn't hook me into or connect me to their music. They might as well as sing the ABCs with reverb and dark growls and nothing would change in their music.
This is music for when I clean my room, in other words so that I don't have to actually listen to the specifics of the melody and just enough background to keep me interested in both the music and keep my mind off of the mundane cleaning of my room. The First song "Tank Torture" is over repetitive and uncreative. If this was the dawn of metal from the 90's to the 2000's then I would be able to forgive the stale music and doomy riffs, but again their previous CD sounded better than this. "Raven God Amongst Us" was better produced and at least their second full length but after three full lengths and over ten years playing why should I spend my hard earned dollars? OK the band is not hear to defend itself but as a musician they have to give me reason and a repetitive old style with only more aggressive drums, well, that is not really a good reason. Yes the drums are more aggress than their older stuff but still the guitars overpower the rest of the instruments and the vocals are low and blend into the background.
On "Impending Doom" the drums kick ass but how does the song give me the feel of impending doom? It doesn't, it is just fast riffs and heavy playing. It reminds me of an Australian band called Lord Kaos ( a fucking great band by the way- but you will never find that CD).
These guys are tremendous players and if it was up to playing I would give them a 5 out of 5. Pro level playing but I feel if the production was just better and the repetitive nature of the music was altered and shorter then I probably would be giving these guys a 5 out of 5. But I will not, again how much reverb can you take for every song? And this is the difference between American and Norwegian Black Metal or even Canadian Black Metal. The Canadians seem to get it better than the Americans, Black Metal is not about reverb and repetitive blast beats, rather it is an elite form of music that should take me on a journey from the start to the finish. Think of the greats like Immortal and Dark Funeral, from start to finish they have this feel where they bring me into their world of cold and hatred and despair, Valdur is just a powerful band but unfocussed . They have a song called "Blessing of the Goat" now is this because they believe in what the Goat represents in Judao-Christian folklore or because this is a typical theme in Black Metal? My guess is that this is rather amateurish attempt at getting their music heard like Krisiun did in the beginning.
Look if you like Black Metal then get it, but if you are a true fan of the subculture of Black Metal and have been there from the beginning like me (yep, I am Fucking Old), then I would not spend my money on this, I would rather get some Forest of Fog, at least it is more creative. I only ask these bands this question, why should I purchase their CD, and musicians are not philosophers. Just because a musician creates a CD doesn't mean that you (the consumer) should purchase it. Similarly, this is a 3 out of 5 guitar picks and that is only because they are good musicians but this might even be a lower rating if not for great drumming and endurance players.
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