Uvall - October Turns...Ruined

Uvall – October Turns...Ruined

My fellow metal colleague and host of this blog, Judge Shredd, once explained to me that black metal can vaguely be classified as "frozen crypt" black metal or "dark forest/swamp/nature/mountains" black metal. I immediately knew what he was talking about, but neither of us could firmly articulate what classifies a particular recording as one or the other. The aesthetics and art style of the band usually gives some clue, but even in the absence of such images listeners can usually agree on "forest" or "crypt". Mayhem, for instance, is resolutely in the "crypt" group; it would seem out of place otherwise. Likewise, Wolves in the Throne room doesn't conjure images of the spirits of ancient kings haunting catacombs. Another common thread worth noting is that black metal bands which focus on contemplative atmospherics, ambience, and painting an aural picture are nearly always of the "forest" group (one exception I can think of off the top of my head is Elysian Blaze). October Turns...Ruined another exception to the trend; creating an enveloping, morose brand of black/doom metal from a diverse range of influences while mainting a great deal of originality and avoiding many of the cartoonish cliches that plague the ambient black metal and doom metal genres.

Describing a very obscure release like this usually warrants comparisons to other groups or albums, but that's difficult in the case of October Turns...Ruined. At any given moment, the listener will be hearing 1991 nordic style riffs, but in the same track there will be funeral doom paced chaotic dissonance, evil sounding acoustic guitars, or tranquil ambient sections. Despite bouncing around stylstically, the music never has a jagged feeling and all of the transitions feel fluid and unforced. "Melancholy", for instance, integrates many different moods and paces, but nothing feels out of place or contrived. I'm usually weary of ambient elements being used in black metal, as it often gives musicians an excuse to repeat the same thing over and over again. Anyone remember Velvet Cacoon's 1-2 note ambient tracks that went on for 25 minutes? Uvall stays away from this, the most "ambient" track, "End", is 15 minutes in duration, yet stays constantly varied and interesting while still being very laid back and immersive.

The vocals are done solely in the black metal style. The vocals are tasteful and not particularly abrasive or odd. They actually have minimal presence overall and don't detract or add anything major. The guitar and drum work is predominantly slow and doomy with a few mid-tempo section, and maintaining a very "evil" atmosphere and feel throughout. One thing to note is that the production quality is extremely high for a release this obscure and in this genre. Everything is completely clear and crisp. I was surprised to discover after that this was a 1 man project after I had several listens to the album.

Overall a very solid release which takes some of the best aspects of black metal and doom metal and brings them together while adding creative and original flare.

93/100.

http://www.mediafire.com/?xz6rpmfyxjxrp7c