UHTCEARU - For Darkness To Subside
September 7, 2017, 6 years ago
(Independent)
The insanely named Uhtcearu start strong here, with opener “Burning Effigy” displaying all sorts of razor-sharp mid-'00s Century Media melodic black/death/thrash twists and turns, the band laying down a great melodic guitar solo as an exclamation mark. This Wisconsin-based band is following up 2016 debut The Plight Of Wanderers with tons of skill and confidence here, the slightly raw production working in their favour as they plow through songs like riff-fest “Existence Is Solitude” and the blasting and grinding “To Hammer We Pray”, which also offers up some good melodic half-time expertise. Mid-album cut “May Spirits Guide Us Through” is a grandiose 7:25 (its last two minutes destroy, with some great guitar work), and excellent, noisy closer “Tower Of Silence” clocks in at 8:34, but the band show a lot of promise in dealing with these longer tunes (two others are six minutes), things never getting dull and Uhtcearu actually crafting a pretty good feeling of both atmosphere and journey with those extra minutes.
“As Witching Hours Wane” showcases a good epic black metal sound, with another killer melodic guitar solo to boot; “Dance Of The Morning Sun” is an odd acoustic romp that suddenly makes me think I’m listening to a Rush album... not a bad thing. Uthcearu may struggle to have their own identity—when this is over, how will the listener remember them?—but there are tons of great sounds here to enjoy.