Back in 2020, I heaped an enormous amount of praise upon Effigy of Nightmares, the third full-length album from Ohio’s Valdrin, and while that record constitutes the exceedingly rare occurrence where time tempers my initial enthusiasm (I’d probably bring it down to a 4.0 at this point), I still hold it in high regard. I was caught up not only by Valdrin’s melodic black metal songwriting ability but also by the band’s incredible brand of storytelling. All of their albums tell stories within the same universe, with each one representing different points in the timeline and the perspectives of different characters, and while I can’t claim to have taken the time to fully grasp the entire narrative, I can appreciate the way that said narrative is delivered. Now, while Effigy was a mini-album by the band’s usual standards, follow-up Throne of the Lunar Soul is a double LP, reverting back to the lengthy tendencies that Valdrin displayed on their first two albums. This tendency gives me some pause, but let’s see if these guys can wow me again.
Very little has changed in the stylistic department since Effigy; all of the same comparisons still stand. The demonic presence of Dissection, Watain, Dimmu Borgir, and Emperor can all be felt here rather strongly, with keys and tremolos galore. I really appreciate the amount of atmosphere that Valdrin works into their songs, as it complements the more aggressive sections quite well. In fact, I’ve embedded what I consider to be the most interesting track on Throne of the Lunar Soul: the title track. The track is surprisingly subdued and beautiful much of the time. The key passages are captivating, and the guitar solo has a classic shred feel that brings such a wonderfully strange dynamic to black metal. The track moves between feelings of major scale triumph and minor scale defeat, and even delves into moments of funereal dirge. It’s a beautiful song that aptly demonstrates Valdrin’s willingness to experiment within their chosen genre.
And that experimentation makes Throne of the Lunar Soul a diverse journey, as each of the songs has its own character. “Paladins of Ausadjur” has a victorious gallop, “Seven Swords (In the Arsenal of Steel)” uses blacksmith noises as part of its hammering rhythm, and “Vagrant in the Chamber of Night” leans heavily into Valdrin’s keyboard use with some classical flourishes. “Holy Matricide” begins with some incredible finger-picked acoustic guitar, and when combined with its nefarious subject matter, it sounds like it could be on the Blasphemous soundtrack. These are just a handful of examples of an album filled to the brim with quality.
In fact, Throne of the Lunar Soul might be a little too full of quality material. This is one of those strange situations where an album is almost uniformly great, has no moments that one could consider even remotely bad (or even mediocre), yet it still lacks a certain something. In this case, it lacks focus. Each of these songs is great in its own way, but many of them travel a good 2-3 minutes past their most optimal limits. There are five tracks over seven minutes here (and three over eight), and that takes an enormous amount of focus to properly appreciate. And it’s hard to appreciate when I know in my soul that this album contains another 4.0 or higher within its bloated corpse. Ultimately, I’m still not able to rate Throne of the Lunar Soul any lower than “Very Good” thanks to Valdrin’s incredibly dynamic approach to the style.
I guess you really can have too much of a good thing. While Throne of the Lunar Soul never really drags and is, in fact, rather captivating throughout its 74-minute runtime, I just can’t help but imagine how amazing it would be (and how highly it would list) if the songs and the album itself were shortened to more reasonable lengths. Still, Valdrin is a melodic black metal powerhouse, and with a focus on editing, their next album could be incredible.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Blood Harvest Records
Websites: valdrin.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/valdrinausadjur
Releases Worldwide: November 24th, 2023
