ALBUM REVIEW: Djinn – Uada

In the mid to late 2010s, the aesthetics of new black metal took a turn. Rather than decking out in leather armour, fake blood and corpse paint, new black metal outfits started taking cues from genre heavyweights BATUSHKA and MGLA, taking the stage in hoods and robes, cultivating a more mysterious, esoteric – if simpler – image. In a genre as traditionalist as black metal, many of these new bands found themselves written off online by the vocal minority of elitists before they even played a riff. UADA are one such band, the quality of their brand of melodic black metal meant nothing to these elitists – and it was an incredibly high quality right from the outset. Following on from their 2016 debut Devoid of Light and 2018 opus Cult of a Dying Sun, the Oregon natives return like clockwork with Djinn, here to prove they are more than hipster champions. 

Right from the offset of Djinn, UADA immediately throw down the gauntlet and show a clear maturity in their songwriting. The opening title track kicks off with some post-black metal, black and roll riffing and lead work before the barked vocals signal a turn to a slow melody that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in one of IRON MAIDEN’s A Matter of Life and Death’s longer numbers. Melody is key here, but don’t mistake UADA for just another DISSECTION rip-off; the ideas expressed across the opening track – and indeed the record as a whole – are boundless. 

The Great Mirage continues in this post-blackened, melodic vein – though offers a degree more oomph in its ferocious execution. Here, frontman Jake Superchi really shows how underrated he is as a vocalist, his range utterly colossal and his delivery haunting. It’s single No Place Here that really steals the show from Side A of Djinn, though. No stranger to longer tracks, with songs pushing the seven minute mark being about the average in UADA’s catalogue, No Place Here smashes that at 13:40 – and its not even the longest track to be found on Djinn. Pushing into 14 minutes, it would have been incredibly easy for Superchi and co. to fall into the trap of needless repetition, or No Place Here simply coming over as unfocused and overstaying its welcome. Fortunately, this couldn’t be further from the case. Tremolo riffs doused in melancholy create an impenetrable atmosphere, post metal Ian’s black-gaze influenced passages lift the textures of the music and the track simply disappears in a blur of dark emotions and top tier melodic black metal. 

Kicking off Side B, In the Absence of Matter is an absolute bruiser. Urgent even in its doomier moments, aggressively sombre and cloaked in a haunted atmosphere, it proves to be a highlight of Djinn, more of those warm MAIDEN-ish melodies and leads contrasting very nicely with the classically colder black metal riffs. Penultimate track Forestless keeps that nicely textured, post-metal wave rolling, black and roll rhythms and riffs keeping things dark while the leads offer a suitable dose of misery before the aggression bulldozes in. 

Like No Place Here in the first half of the album, its album closer Between Two Worlds that really steals the show. An animalistic intro sets an immediately dark tone, before harmonised leads ripped straight from Dave Murray and Adrian Smith’s handbook take over, before UADA plunge back into the darkness once more. This swing between light and dark happens throughout the closer to spectacular effect and despite falling mere seconds shy of the 14 minute mark at no point does Between Two Worlds become boring. A doomier passage around the midway point keeps things very interesting indeed while the melancholy drenched soloing towards the closing moments of Djinn rounds off UADA’s strongest record to date in spectacular fashion. 

For those who have already written UADA off due to their listenable production, imaginative songwriting and lack of 90s style stage attire, Djinn is unlikely to change their minds. But for those looking for something fresh and exciting in black metal, Djinn once again proves UADA are at the top of the game. From start to finish, Djinn proves to be an utterly spellbinding listen, imaginative at every turn, as melancholic as it is brutalising. Bask in the smokeless fire. 

Rating: 9/10

Djinn is out now via Eisenwald.

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