Fortunate is the soul who can identify talent before it becomes something that commands respect and more than earns the right to be a need-to-know name. The underground is constantly littered with names that have real substance to offer in some form or another, and it’s far from uncommon to see those names take destiny in their own hands and craft a creation that stands out. Sometimes, a band can offer more than one such work over time with the years allowing them to become all the more capable in their sound. Embodying that to a high degree, it’s with their upcoming EP that Valdrin makes long-time fans proud and astounds newcomers from top to bottom.

It would be understatement to say that Valdrin has been on the rise in recent years. It hasn’t even been a full two years since their last album, “Throne of the Lunar Soul”, and I still find myself wondrously impressed with what was accomplished within that record, and to see the Ohio act come back so soon is a real feast for the senses. Continuing down their extraordinary path that seems them carving their own way through black metal without compromise nor failure in any instance, it’s in the whole of “Apex Violator” that I feel we’re witnessing a new age of Valdrin beginning right before our eyes. Still wreathed in the gloriously sci-fi lore that Valdrin has woven with immense talent and finesse, it’s in these five tracks that Valdrin puts forth another supremely dense display of power with layered songwriting, tremendous riffs, and undeniable presence that yet again are we given a display of black metal that many seek to aspire even half as masterfully. It’s the kind of work that’s indicative of what happens when talent comes around to offer us a vision of not just bold daring with a little bit of competence, but a masterwork that offers nothing but the finest from every angle. “Apex Violator” had much to live up to with the results nothing short of what exemplary, bombastic, and just fascinating to behold.

This is what it means to watch greatness in motion. Valdrin has been on an undeniable rise for years now, and while “Apex Violator” is not their crowning achievement in my opinion, there’s no way to argue what’s put forward in this fiery EP. Foreboding, intense, and downright invigorating to become one with, Valdrin’s performance is what legends are built off of with the future still theirs for the taking and they are primed for overwhelming dominance.

“Apex Violator” releases on June 20th via Avantgarde Music!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Apex Violator” on Bandcamp here, or via YouTube below.

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