The Igneous Race

Charnel Valley seem to produce different type of melodic black metal. Usually it's the keyboards that tend to give the term melodic , but it seems that Charnel Valley were better off without it. Melodic black metal is probably not what the band was aiming for, if anything they were aiming for straight-forward black metal. Charnel Valley consists of two members , one that handles vocals, guitars and one handles the drums. They both put too much energy into this release, when listening to this; I think to myself chill brother? Jokes, this is what black metal is all about. It's about the fast-paced drums and dark riffs.

There are 7 different songs in this full-length album. This also means there are 7 different riffs only. These riffs are interesting for the first minute or so of the song, but fuck each song goes for like five minutes. If it wasn't for the drums, I would've thrown the CD out ages ago. The drums actually are the reason why I hang on listening to this album till the end. The drums are very well produced but again the riffs fuck everything up. Charnel Valley is one of those bands who think repeating the riff 50 times a song is interesting. I also love how the riff from January appears on the track straight after, as if no-one is going to notice. The vocals are okay, but upon listening to them it seems to me as if the vocalist is singing as if he has no choice. He literally sounds as if he's taking a shit the whole time. So when we combine everything, what do we get? We get a good melodic black metal song that turns into shit after two minutes into the song.

Charnel Valley will keep you interested for the first two minutes of each tracks, then you're just going to keep pressing skip. I've given this album too many chances , it just never amazed me. In fact, I still wonder how it's still in my collection. They should've developed their songs a bit more , then the songs would've been much more addictive. I still listen to it because there are unique riffs on this album , and they keep calling me back. The Igneous Race is worth a listen.

Flirting with a genre like black metal can land you in either Norway’s cold sanctuary or Hell’s hot waters if there isn’t enough focus on what matters most: the music. Sadly, several bands emerging from this scene hover around lyrical nonsense or indecipherable raw production just because it’s “evil,” yet a lot still do good by simply kicking ass, like Charnel Valley. Formed as a two-man project, this American-based squad had their dumb “kvlt” stint, but those days are gone, and they eventually released a full-length entitled “The Igneous Race” that merely aims at substance. Charnel Valley’s debut CD isn’t some bombastic attempt at pushing the limits of black metal beyond comprehension; instead, it’s just an enjoyable album that strides independently on trapping black metal’s strongest assets without derailing any essential qualities.

While not perfect in every sense, “The Igneous Race” is very homogenous in its fling to justly present extreme cacophony that can firmly balance atmosphere and intensity without dropping the load. Instrumentally speaking, this release is essentially comprised of typical black metal qualities you’d expect from any decent disc emerging the spotlighted genre, including beefy tremolo picking sections, shrieking vocals, rapid percussion, and dynamic song textures. One might also notice Charnel Valley’s occasional breakdown into mid-paced sections, which typically show straight-forward thrash riffs or pounding drums; not a huge trait, yet certainly mentionable. And of course, the production is a raw display of chunky recording as the dark noises are both grimly muddy and noticeably sensitive to change; it’s the musical equivalent of a cow’s rotting corpse hanging in some nasty slaughterhouse.

Now extreme metal fans might expect another classic example of clueless copycatting, yet Charnel Valley still does a few things to make a record like this a lot better than what other groups of such criteria could equate. For example, “The Igneous Race” sparks surprisingly well from reliable transition bridges that usually involve slower riffing or rapid tremolo picking, but while subtracting unnecessary additions; not calculus-like music writing, but simpler, and it typically works very well. However, the prime component of Charnel Valley’s first full-length lies in the enzymes of extremely memorable writing sections that act unusually good considering how modest most of the patterns are; in other words, fairly conventional designs get juiced until the sweet liquid goes into your cup without overflowing or appearing too small in quantity.

Overall, Charnel Valley exceeds exceptionally at capturing black metal’s dark-as-night atmosphere while simultaneously reaching into some of the genre’s prime musical qualities by ignoring anything potentially negative. Now this sunless duo probably won’t be the most original band you’ll ever hear, yet it’s very important to emphasis their strict loyalty to their native sound, and pressing that effective agenda leads right into consistency’s realms; they came in with a plan, and made it work nicely by easily aiding areas that would typically be considered redundant. “The Igneous Race” stands proudly as just a well-crafted black metal record, so don’t hesitate to fork up some cash if it sounds like something you’d enjoy.