For decades now, black metal has been synonymous with the very concept of what it means to be unrelenting in its assaults upon the very notion of good in the universe. The style has seen many deviations, sure, but black metal that adheres to the core ideals of the sound as they were laid forth years ago still find new ways to spit in the face of the self-righteous while always making a point to leave the lands blanketed in the unholiest of flames. We still see a constant stream of new bands rising out of the darkness to show us what fresh slice of Hell they can also bring forth in a world that is not lacking one bit in such intensity. That can be difficult to pull off given how oversaturated black metal can feel at times, but bands like V.E.I.N. are why we just keep coming back every single time.

One of those acts that are truly of the underground where the people behind the act are shrouded in darkness and thus are mysterious to a tee, V.E.I.N. came about sometime during the new millennium but it is only recently with “Blood Oaths” that V.E.I.N. makes its first real move upon the underground. And what a move it is! To gaze into the eight tracks of “Blood Oaths” while taking in all that its 32-minute runtime has to offer is to find yourself looking upon some of the darkest and most foreboding black metal that one can hope to find in the underground without the work becoming truly impenetrable on a level that is simply inhospitable. Everything about “Blood Oaths” goes for the throat in every given opportunity with the darkly seductive nature of the album itself setting it apart from much of what other black metal acts are able to summon forth. Without fail, V.E.I.N. manages to weave one menacing spell after another be it in the form of riffs born out of the abyss or the darkest kind of psychedelia that you’ll hear in all of black metal with both of those factors and more coalescing into one massive performance that is intimidating from the get-go but an effort that is nothing to underestimate. Should you do so, V.E.I.N. will leap from the shadows to pull you under in one fell swoop to show you just how foolish you truly were.

However long it was that V.E.I.N. sat in the darkest of obscurity to craft this work, it was clearly more than worth it. For every step that they took in the making of this bombastic performance born out of the highest of blasphemy, “Blood Oaths” accomplishes so much in what feels like hardly any time at all. One can only hope that it won’t be long before V.E.I.N. returns from the darkness to show us what it’s made of yet again, but any wait is worth it just to bear witness to the evil magic that V.E.I.N. wields with absolute impunity for the whole of this first offensive. The very concept of a return is something that causes a shiver to the depths of the soul, yet it’s something whose presence I cannot hope but to see rise wreathed in the flames of Hell.

LISTEN to “Blood Oaths” on Bandcamp here.