Vemod - The Deepening

Angry Metal Guy

The sophomore album can be a make-or-break moment. Does a band double-down on what made their first release remarkable, or dilute its impact and fade into obscurity? The Deepening by Vemod is such a record, although comes so long after the debut that the band might as well be new again. 12 years is a long gap and a long time in which a band may reinvent itself. The Deepening finds these Norwegians deepening their own lore through a new take on their original black metal – but has the gap afforded their new sound quality too?

Despite hailing from the edge of Northern Norway, Vemod now find themselves musically closer to the specifically American brand of atmospheric black metal popularized over the last decade; think Wayfarer or Panopticon. “Inn i lysande natt” is the shortest main track and a microcosm of the album as a whole. The lead riff (besides being very cool) has a jangly tone and way of stringing together chords which remind me of a banjo, and the pulsing beat has the energy I would attribute to Western movies. Vemod don’t have the frosty feel I associate with Norwegian black metal, nor the fiery feel I associate with Icelandic. Instead, it’s warm, dusty, and weather-worn. As the melody develops in this song, a shredding guitar colors the layer above in a way I can only describe as like a cowboy galloping over empty plains. The music is substantially black metal, and there are no instruments typically used in Americana. But this image flows from the tone and feel.

Vemod’s greatest strength, besides their unusual aesthetic, is their ability to construct and deconstruct their music. “Der guder dor” trundles through several minutes of atmospheric, melodic black metal before slowly stripping its guitars to expose low-key synths in a quiet space. The muted passage gradually layers with a drum roll, choral chants, and jangling guitar chords, building a moody atmosphere. A shredding guitar layer brings things back to a maximal approach. I’m left feeling satisfied at how The Deepening treats its songs as superstructures, which can be layered and delayered into different forms of themselves. Similar passages are notable on “True North Beckons” and the title track. What’s most admirable is how the heavy becomes the light (and vice versa); the passages are interwoven with these slow transitions so that they sound like two sides of the same coin, rather than a heavy passage becoming a separate light one. It belies a deft touch in Vemod’s songwriting hand.

I struggled with articulating why, despite its strengths, I don’t love The Deepening. My inability to easily do so reflects the fact that after numerous listens I didn’t have many notes to use. It has good melodies. Good riffs. Good atmosphere. Good emotive impact. But it lacks anything – positive or negative – outstanding. My thoughts are generally favorable but they’re few. If you’ve heard atmospheric black metal previously then you’ve heard things that sound like this. On reflection, I’d also argue that the preference for long songs is misguided and exacerbates the sense that the record isn’t all that it could be. 45 out of 48 minutes are split across just four tracks. While the songs satisfactorily flow between light and heavy as described above, the slowness of the transitions and tendency to stick with just a couple of key melodies per track means they can become repetitive. “Inn i lysande natt” has cool features but by its conclusion, I’m tired of its core melodic loop. It has interesting ideas but doesn’t progress these ideas sufficiently.

The closing of The Deepening, with 3.5 minutes of synths on its title track, encapsulates how I feel about the album overall. It’s strangely calm and warm for those already versed in black metal. I enjoy it because it’s well-produced and well-composed. Likewise, The Deepening sounds like the professional work of a prolific group that’s had time to cut its teeth and develop its sound. Those who enjoy this brand of atmospheric black metal could do a lot worse. But Vemod lack that sheen of real quality or ingenuity to elevate their work beyond this soft recommendation.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps
Label: Prophecy Productions
Websites: facebook.com/vemod | vemod.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: January 19th, 2024

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