Wyrd – Death Of The Sun

[schema type=”review” name=”Wyrd – Death of the Sun” description=”Label: Moribund Records” author=”Basak Günel” pubdate=”18-03-2016″ ]

Wyrd is a Finnish black/doom/dark metal band. Formed in 1998 as a post-Hellkult project, the band has been active with many albums and a dedicated fanbase. The latest record “Death Of The Sun” has been released last month.

I gotta say that although the band has been active for a while now, I have never heard their name so as long as I got the chance to review the record, I wondered what kind-of doom/black metal record I was going to listen to. From the first song “Death Of The Sun”, the album has this acoustic/atmospheric start and this made me wonder if I was gonna listen to full-on pagan/black metal record or an atmospheric one…or both! Indeed, the sound is a mixture of both of these elements. Sometimes songs are quite upbeat and ‘power-metallish’ and some songs are a bit more ‘doomy’ and darker, You will get to hear this contrast in “The Sleepless and the Dead” and “Pale Departure” for example; this aspect definitely adds another dimension to the record.

Generally, we get to hear the character and the essence of the band’s sound in the second half a bit better. I especially loved the acoustic approach in some songs and this approach was the highlight for me. One thing I also found interesting was the use of the harsh and clean vocals; harsh vocals give the record that pagan metal feeling whereas the clean vocals actually added a bit of a ‘power metal’ approach to the record. Although I found this aspect nice, I found the use of the clean vocals in the record a bit weak and harsh vocals definitely stand out in the record a lot more; they also fit better in this album than the clean vocals. A better production could have helped with the vocals as well; I got the feeling that the vocals were sometimes in the background and so they didn’t sound so ‘powerful’ or ‘magical’ as I have expected. The band maybe intended for a ‘raw’ sound but I think that with a better production, they would have sounded a bit better.

“Death Of The Sun” might not be a unique record but give it a shot if you are a fan of the genre! Especially recommended for the lovers of the darkness and the atmosphere…

Line-up:
Grim – vocals
Niflungr – bass
Lima – drums
Ruho – guitars
Wircki – synths, guitars

Tracklist: 01. Man Of Silent Waters 02. The Sleepless And The Dead 03. Pale Departure 04. The Pale Hours 05. Inside 06. Cursed Be The Men 07. Where Spirits Walk The Earth 08. Rust Feathers 09. Death Of The Sun

Links:
Wyrd Facebook