Udånde – Life of a Purist

Band: Udånde
Title: Life of a Purist
Label: Vendetta Records
Release date: 05 February 2021
Country: Slovakia / Denmark
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Well… Udånde is the Danish word for ‘to exhale the final breath and die’, which sounds really promising for an Atmospheric Black Metal band. And after listening to the first minute of the album, I knew I was on the right way for a great musical journey. Really glad it crossed my path…

This is a one-man Black Metal project, being this man Rasmus Ejlersen, who is Danish but now located in Slovakia. He is at charge of guitars and bass and counts on Lars Johansson for the vocals and Miroslav Raučina beating the drums. They together play for almost 39 minutes a great display of Black Metal full of melody and, at some points, breathtaking atmosphere, yet picturing a raw and dark musical landscape.

“Life of a Purist” is an album with a clear production, where no one instrument sticks out over the others; vocals sound really integrated in the whole mix, I mean there aren’t stand-out shrieks, it’s more like a dark and harsh chant in a monotonous tone totally engulfed by the guitars and drums, perfectly balanced. And the bass is really audible, a thing that I always enjoy.

Of course, the most alluring aspect of this album (in my opinion) are the guitars, playing hypnotic melodies and plenty of tremolo riffing, while packed up with relentless drums, Mr. Raučina is on fire! Those double bass pedals give the listener no room to breathe… Which is so good! There are also great mid-paced sections, they serve as soothening bridges to the forthcoming sonic storm.

A curious thing is that the titles of the songs are symbols, except for the “Prologue” (which is song number 2) and the “Epilogue”. I’d go for the fourth track, as a really outstanding one; fantastic melodies and repetitive riffs to perfectly the trick, it’s been resonating in my head for days.

For me, this is a solid Atmospheric Black Metal release, I give it 9/10! Sílvia

Band
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram
Spotify
Youtube

Label
Site
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram
SoundCloud
BigCartel

9/10 : Epic Storm!
**Please support the underground! It’s vital to the future of our genre.**
#WeAreBlessedAltarZine
#TheZineSupportingTheUnderground