Vallenyfyre first appeared with a limited 7” vinyl on Imperium productions with almost no indication at all about who was involved or in what way the project was to develop. A run of 500 units, the single featured the tracks ‘desecration’ and ‘iconoclast’, both of which proved to be stunningly heavy, and it was only later that information started to surface about the nature of the project.
It took almost no time at all for various websites to start bandying around the term ‘supergroup’ (a vile term at the best of times) but in truth this is no such thing – neither the band nor their label have made any such claims and given the deeply personal nature of Greg Mackintosh’s lyrics it seems a massive disservice to suggest that this is some vacuous attempt at celebrity back-slapping. Certainly Vallenfyre holds similarities with both Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, but ultimately this is the brainchild of Greg, conceived during a truly awful time in his life, and his tormented, intelligent lyrics are the catalyst for the remarkable music that rumbles around them.
The opening track, ‘all will suffer’ tells you immediately that this is going to be a resolutely gruelling experience. A howl of feedback gives way to funeral-slow guitars and pummelling drums. It is the sound of unfettered horror, slithery guitar leads crawling over the desiccated riffs whilst Greg’s roar is part projected angst, part searing rage and as deathly as it comes – fans familiar with Paradise Lost’s much vaunted ‘Gothic’-era will find much to love here but this is more than just a PL clone – Greg’s return to his roots sees elements of Celtic Frost, Amebix, Darkthrone and Aborted all woven into the sound and there is certainly little let up across the ten (eleven if you’re sensible and buy the beautiful vinyl edition) tracks, with the mood grotesquely sombre throughout. ‘Desecration’, which so impressed on the single, is the wonderful second track; the guitars once again slither and slide before giving way to a straight-laced death riff that is liable to take your head clean off if not approached with appropriate care – it’s mind-numbingly heavy, pitch black in mood and you can feel Greg’s rampaging emotions shot through the bleak lyrical content giving the music a more overtly personal feel than much of the blackened doom out there – it is certainly no surprise that he felt unable to pass the lyrics over to anyone else given their intrinsically personal nature. ‘Ravenous whore’ subverts the obvious despair and unleashes a stunningly violent assault upon the senses that is closest in spirit to the virulent grind movement of the eighties – more Napalm Death than Paradise lost, it’s a stunningly and unexpectedly brutal attack that leaves you gasping and breathless before ‘Cathedrals of dread’ steps up to the plate with hints of vintage Sepultura shot through the blackened and unyielding barrage of guitars. It’s a vicious one-two punch that shows more than anything that Vallenfyre are very much their own masters, unafraid to challenge any preconceptions that fans may have and with the songs written, primarily, to please themselves rather than the world around them. It’s cathartic, untrammelled and whilst the wounds exposed in the lyrics, so obviously still raw and weeping, can be uncomfortable at times, the emotion running through the music makes it one of the most powerful blackened doom releases to appear in some time.
Having run down the listener’s resistance, the fury of ‘as the world collapses’ is unleashed on a wave of crust and death riffs that slam into you almost physically, whilst Greg’s vocals have become markedly more rough-hewn, as befits the grim subject matter. ‘A thousand martyrs’ is equally forceful although it initially opens with a familiar-sounding PL-style progression before developing into a full-blown monster of a track, hobnailed of boot and blackened in demeanour. The subject matter may be weighty but by God it’s a monstrously heavy and exciting sound that Valenfyre use to convey these feelings. Like Bloodbath provides a suitably monstrous outlet for members of Opeth and Katatonia, so Vallenfyre have only superficial links to their illustrious mother band, opting instead to tour the depths of their inspirations and creating an album that revels in its black-hearted and sinewy subversion of grief into some truly magnificent and utterly devastating music. ‘Seeds’ slows things to a snail’s pace – a doom-laden, sludgy riff backing echo-laden vocals and a utterly brutal percussive assault from Adrian Erlandsson whose presence here is occasionally overwhelmingly stunning. ‘Humanity wept’ eschews the doom of its predecessor for a fast-paced rampage through black metal territory before the dank horrors of ‘my black Siberia’ are unleashed amidst a torrent of mid-paced riffs and throat-ripping vocals. The, violent, contempt-laden ‘the divine have fled’ deals in close detail with Greg’s disdain for organized religion before one last sceptic blast of searing fury appears in the form of ‘the grim irony’ before the album draws to a breathless close.
As is commonplace these days the album is available in various formats, with vinyl being the best of the bunch as it provides a full size version of the beautifully grim artwork and a bonus track in the form of ‘majesty dethroned’ – a track which fits perfectly with the feel and mood of the album. Whichever version you go for, however, this is a grim, troubling ride through the darkest underbelly of metal. Elements of crust, grind, black, death and doom metal all rear their ugly heads, but despite the confluence of genres, the record is a remarkably cohesive whole, with the varying tempos and styles complementing each other. Like any record where grief is the key motivating factor, there are times when the raw and personal nature of the songs is uncomfortable to deal with but ultimately this record succeeds where Greg has taken what must have been truly tragic circumstances to develop a remarkable piece of work; like so many great artists he has utilised something that could have been destructive to him and those around him, to create something memorable and engaging, focusing his grief and rage outward rather than in and allowing his intelligent and thoughtful lyrics to roam across subjects close to us all – society, religion and relationships. For sure this will find a market amongst fans of Paradise Lost, My dying bride and their ilk, but it deserves a wider appeal amongst any music fan who values the dark sub-genres of metal of which this record acts as a black-clad tour guide. A resounding triumph and a stunning record.
