Ysyry Mollvün 🇦🇷 Ysyry Mollvün
Band: Ysyry Mollvün
Title: Ysyry Mollvün
Label: Avantgarde Music
Release Date: 11 February 2022
Country: Argentina
Format Reviewed: High-quality digital recording
Let me begin by saying, that I love unique sounds, sounds you wouldn’t expect to go to together. I really appreciate when bands incorporate history, and where their origins started. I love high-energy, and emotion in music, and the mixing of back and forth aggressive to soft. It gives me more of a snapshot of what a band is about.
After saying all this, I was very happy to listen to Ysyry Mollvun and their self-titled debut album. I have such admiration and appreciation for this band in the way the cultural instruments have been incorporated and the importance of involving cultural influences in the music.
To introduce Ysyry Mollvun, they are a duo, being, Zupai Ulen and Antonio Sanna (from Downfall of Nur). Zupai was the sole member before beginning a partnership with Sanna. Through their collaboration, cultural instruments, such as Sikus, Charango, flutes and percussion became part of this album.
The name Ysyry Mollvun is derived from two languages: “ysyry” is a word from the South American language Guarani, meaning “river”. “Mollvun”, is derived from the language of the Selk’nam people from Southern Argentina, meaning “blood”.
The album’s theme is on Kaux, a being who took on the teachings of the Selk’nam People, ceased to be human, and was tasked with passing down his knowledge to the tribe with regard to survival in harsh conditions. Kaux did not honor his oath, and the people suffered. He was condemned to lie in the centre of the earth at a point of being not fully dead and not fully alive. There is a lot more to this introduction of Kaux, but I will stop there, because, I want to start telling you about this culturally infused Argentinian/South American black metal sound.
The first track, “Kaux Lament”, begins with a pinging sound that only gets louder and louder, to raspy/guttural vocals and heavy, slamming guitars and drums. What grabs me here, is the change up of tones in the guitars and drums. The slower, heavier approach to the speedier delivery of black metal. Guitar solos kick in, and the drums are being bashed, note, you really hear the symbols.
The pinging sound comes back in, and this to me sounds like the fluted instruments I first mentioned above.
The second track, “Kaux Rise”, begins in a recording of the language, sounding like a chant, followed by a raspy scream. Rapid guitar tremolos and frenetic drums hold strong. The rhythm gets a hold of you and you can’t help but sway your head up and down to the sound. Midway through, the language recording comes in, fading in and out, a haunting and intense chant. Then the track switches gears, the vocal becoming more desperate and lengthy and black metal intensity of instruments claim the place in this portion of the track.
The third track, “Kaux See Reconquista” Oh damn, take me to this concert, I’d lose myself in the musical intensity and brutality and happily disappear into it. It slows to a doom inspired heavy, arduous influence, and its another side to this band’s sound repertoire.
The fourth track, “Kaux Talks to Espiritu Del Monte”, damn, this track heads the ground running, with me trying to best hear as many of the sounds in this one. Guitars are fast, but not so frenetic that you don’t hear the flavor of what’s being played.
You add in the raspy guttural vocal and pounding drums, and yeah, you are right there in that music. Spoken, whispered portion of vocal comes in with a beautiful interlude of acoustic guitar. Track carries through with a mind melting intensity of guitar, drums and raspy vocal.
The fifth track, and the sixth track “San la Muerte I” and “San la Muerte II”, to me are combined and built together. “I” is the laying down of more of the guttural desperation vocal, colder, harder guitar and drum, and yeah, an evilly cold tone to that vocal (which I love!) “II” begins in an acoustic intensity, played so passionately that you know it can bleed metal as well. Building, building begins, with background wall to wall sound and a flute. So unique, these two tracks together. Note, this flute is so entrancing, you just want to stand and watch it being played in front of you.
Ysyry Mollvun is cultural, brutally black metal, melodic, poignant, hypnotic, and engaging. You are going to want to hear this album. 8.5/10 Metal Marie
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8.5/10 To Greatness and Glory!
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