ALBUM REVIEW: Wild North West – Vreid

Born from the ashes of WINDIR following the untimely and tragic death of Terje Bakken, VREID have spent the last 17 years building quite a name for themselves. Fusing the epic atmospheric black metal roots of their former outfit with black n roll grooves and light touches of psychedelia, the Norwegians really hit the pinnacle of their craft with 2018s stunning Lifehunger. Now the quartet are back with their most ambitious project to date – Wild North West. But can the Norsemen capitalise on the strength of Lifehunger, or does the ambition of the Wild North West project muddy the waters?

Wild North West is a movie and an album written together, the latter serving as the soundtrack to the former. It’s a ballsy move, to say the least – but a fascinating idea. It goes without saying the record, then, follows the story of the movie, the film serving as the narrative and conceptual backbone of the album. Despite this, the narrative is never totally clear when listening to the album in isolation – the main stumbling block of the record. Though when experienced as a whole the album and movie both act as a brilliant piece of art, the album alone fails to master the same bite without the visuals.

Wild North West opens things up with its title track, Gothic, Castlevania-esque organ synths adding an interesting layer as VREID stomp through black n roll riffage and melodic black metal atmosphere, while Wolves of the Sea brings VREID‘s viciousness into the forefront, abandoning much of their softer elements in favour of a full-on black metal blitzkrieg attack. That is, until the synths come back into play just after the half-way mark, and the four-piece do a full 180. The change of pace is jarring, and while the more melodious half of Wolves At Sea sets up the following track quite nicely, it is a touch disappointing.

As The Morning Red kicks in, it becomes abundantly clear that VREID are more impossible to categorise than ever. Here the band move into a low-tempo, doomy offering, psychedelic melodies and synth work running over the stomp and groove. Its nice to see another facet of the band’s sound so fully explored, but the umpteenth sonic direction change in only three tracks can be a bit dizzying. Shadows of Aurora sets to steady the ship, bringing the many, many elements VREID have explored thus far into a more unified whole, before Spikes of God brings out the most out-and-out black metal offering of Wild North West. Yet again, though, there is a drastic twist in place as Dazed and Reduced devolves into some solid psychedelic, Goth rock – not unwelcome, but certainly not expected.

Its the closing couplet where VREID really show their strength, though. Penultimate track Into the Mountains is big and bombastic, once again unifying all the little twists and turns into a unified, hook-heavy piece of music. As a very special note, Into the Mountains also features keyboards recorded by Bakken before his death – a lovely inclusion. Closer Shadowland rounds things off in traditionally epic fashion, the almost-ten minute bruiser effortlessly flowing from organ synths to melodic black metal aggression to unparalleled atmospherics – it does, however, meander just a bit, outstaying its welcome.

Though Wild North West lacks a bit of the bite VREID showed on Lifehunger, there’s no doubting the cinematic quality of the Norwegian outfit’s ninth album. However, that cinematic nature comes to the detriment of the album in places – sometimes, the band are more focussed on the movie than the album itself, and that results in Wild North West feeling a tad disjointed – if ultimately a fun, thoroughly enjoyable release. Psychedelic, grandiose and eviscerating, VREID are here with a story to tell.

Rating: 7/10

Wild North West is out now via Season of Mist. 

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