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Vyrju started off as a one man black metal project founded 2006 by Jan F. Lindsø (Gjenferdsel) from Norway, who provides guitars, bass, synth and vocals. However for his debut EP Black that was released 2014 he was joined by Tim Yatras (Germ, Austere, ex-Nazxul, ex-Woods of Desolation etc.) to contribute the drums and, on two of the four tracks, the clean vocals.
There must be a special magic formula working in this album. From the very first listen it caught me, sucked me in and didn't let me go even beyond the last sound’s fading. Black is melodic doom/black metal, atmospheric and dark. The atmospheres move between a soft sadness and harsh bleakness, they feel somehow unreal and dreamlike. Still there’s a solid earthiness to them that makes you virtually smell the soil and the dark woods.
Doomy hypnotizing rhythms and the powerful, uncomplicated melodies enhanced by the mesmerizing clean vocals don’t simply alternate with the piercing shrieks, tremolo and double-bass, they seem to entwine each other, as if the damp misty woods themselves invoke their own vicious demons. Everything seems to emerge from and complement each other, at the same time contrasting and create momentum without effort, like the natural consequence of the way all is put together.
The short instrumental "Gone" with its beautiful open melody is of a somewhat lighter mood than the other tracks, an interlude and a break from the demonic grip, still of a bittersweet melancholic darkness. The EP’s title Black totally reflects the depressive core of the music’s atmosphere which dresses in moods of aggression, distress, despair and melancholy.
Only four tracks and just 21:24 minutes are enough for this potent magic formula to cast its spell on me. I don’t dare imagine what a full length album would be capable of, but I’d like to find out.
The song "The Constant Void" is featured on The Wicked Lady Show 76