Ved Buens Ende "Written in Waters" CD
[Candlelight]
Another remastered reissue from Candlelight, this time Ved Buens Ende's 1995 debut (and only proper record) with new artwork. With a lineup of members having performed in Arcturus, Aura Noir, Cadaver Inc., Dødheimsgard, and Ulver, and likely some others as well, to call Ved Buens Ende a "supergroup" would probably be permissible. But don't expect straight up black, thrash, or death metal from the trio. Usually far from it in fact, as this is incredibly creative metal that leans towards the progressive side of things with what I might even call a bit of a math rock influence. There are some fast chord progressions that have a hint of a black metal flare, and there are scarce sneering vocals, but the vocals are generally sung in a monotone sort of style, at times getting a bit more dramatic and strange, at times doubled for added effect, etc. And the music is constantly moving, flowing along with interesting melodies, dissonant chord progressions, and slow arpeggios - not to mention some unusual time signatures and shifts in dynamics. The clean and semi-distorted guitars in "Coiled in Wings" are especially surprising, sounding more like bizarre Slint-esque indie riffs than anything you'd expect from Norwegian metal veterans. The lush clean guitars and almost folky atmosphere of "Autumn Leaves" create one of my favorite moments on the disc, especially the female singing that comes into play. Most of the songs run more than seven or eight minutes but everything passes by without much of a hitch. The drumming is fucking awesome, I'll say that much. There are a few points where the record can be a little bit tiresome due to its length, but I often find myself intrigued by the drumming regardless of that. The recording is fine by me. The bass is nice and central, the drums sound natural, the vocals are well placed in the mix, and I like the eerie sort of ring to the distortion on the guitars. Not bad at all. There's a lot of density and a lot of atmosphere added to the writing due to the overall sound they've achieved. The layout is similar to that of the Fleurety reissue in that it's mainly black and white with some tinting (there's a bit more color saturation at times here) and it looks really nice for the most part. At first I didn't like the front cover, but the more I looked at it the more it grew on me, and the center spread and tray art look awesome. The lyrics are cleanly presented over dark background textures and the content is fairly interesting: "Forgiven I never was, But I will carry mountains soon, A burden is it not? Kneeling I chose my faith, While they lit the sun and flew naked and blind over my desert fields." This is a very interesting project, it's a shame this is the only record they out. I'm glad to see it re-released though, otherwise it might not have crossed my path. Check this one out. (7/10)
Running time - 57:08, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: I Sang for the Swans, Den Saakaldte, Autumn Leaves]
Candlelight Records - http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

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