Unaccompanied Gregorian-like harmonies announce the start of opening track "Druid Warfare" and are soon joined by bass, drums and guitar in a thrumming distortion drenched doomic groove that offsets its repetitive nature with subtle swells in volume and intensity, a trick that draws the listeners focus more towards the vocals than the music itself, the music in this case seemingly serving as more of a framework for the vocals with those vocals possessing an almost medieval quality. Swelling keyboards accompanied by droning guitar textures herald the arrival of "A Path Through The Veil", here the music and the vocals stand on an equal footing, bone shaking bass and pummelling percussion laying down a platform of dank groove for lilting dual harmonies and searing lead work to be launched from. Third track "Equinox Portal" sees VVARP musically shifting up a gear into proto-doomic territory yet vocally still staying in that monastic occult-like pocket that has become the bands default setting, oh and keep an ear out for swirling Celtic flavoured guitar solo that proceeds the songs droning keyboard outro. VVARP go into full stoner-doomic mode for the pulverising "Iron Cloak" with guitar amps dialled to eleven and drums set to thunderous, the vocals sit a little deeper in the mix here but that does not detract from their impact, in fact the song benefits greatly from allowing the instrumentation to be pushed a little more to the fore. The stoner-doomic dynamics explored on the previous song remain in place for final number "Stone Silhouette" the vocal harmonies here are again floaty and monastic but the musical feel is one of intensity and heaviness, well that is apart from the songs deliciously dank and somewhat lysergic middle section where the vocals once again find themselves the full focus of attention.
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
VVARP ~ POWER HELD IN STONE.... review
We at Desert Psychlist are very partial to doom of a more sedate and atmospheric nature, strident up-tempo grooves of course have a place in our hearts and we have much music lining our shelves at Stonerking Towers that meet that criteria but what really gets our blood pumping are grooves that lurch toward the finishing line rather than race to get there. Even better for us is if those grooves have an almost spiritual/ritualistic air about them and Australia's VVARP, Claudia Sullivan (bass/vocals); John Bollen (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and Scott McLatchie (drums), make music that fits that mould perfectly. The band first came to Desert Psychlist's attention via their 2020 release "First Levitations" a release we described on their Bandcamp page as "thundering riffs counterbalanced by floating monastic vocals", while calling it in our full review "a must for fans of Windhand, Dead Sacraments and Chile's Heráldica de Mandra". The band return this year with "Power Held In Stone" (DHU Records), an engrossing and atmospheric tome they describe as "an imagined soundtrack for a folk horror film that exists only in our collective imagination".
Doom with a floating ethereal quality is what VVARP bring to the altar with "Power Held In Stone", songs full of intensity and heaviness offset with elements that at times border on folkish and otherworldly.
Check it out ....
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