Violet Cold - Desperate Dreams

By Celtic Frosty. Violet Cold is, according to its lone member Emin Guliyev, an “experimental one-man band from Baku, Azerbaijan.” Azerbaijan is a small transcontinental country situated where Eastern Europe and Western Asia meet, sharing borders with Iran, Armenia, Russia, Georgia

By Celtic Frosty.


Violet Cold is, according to its lone member Emin Guliyev, an “experimental one-man band from Baku, Azerbaijan.” Azerbaijan is a small transcontinental country situated where Eastern Europe and Western Asia meet, sharing borders with Iran, Armenia, Russia, Georgia, and flanked by the Caspian Sea to the east. You’ve most likely never heard of it until now, but with Desperate Dreams, Violet Cold’s first full length after releasing 24 singles and 2 EPs, Emin has burst through the doors of obscurity into the light. And what a beautiful, rapturous light it is.

It’s possibly due to Emin’s relatively unknown (at least within the metal scene) locale that Desperate Dreams is such a unique find within the saturated genre of post black metal. In the opening seconds of “La Petite Mort,” the album’s first and featured track, it becomes immediately clear that Mr. Guliyev is an extremely bold and gutsy songwriter. That major chord synth pop melody is one of the most joyous lead-ins to a black metal record you’re likely to find, and it sets the tone for the rest of the album with authority. These synth pop melodies and hooks are ever-present throughout all 8 tracks, usually serving as the centerpiece that holds the swirling chaos surrounding it in tact.

Though that description may be a turn off to the more morose among you, the synths on Desperate Dreams do nothing to round the sharp edges of Violet Cold’s ferocity. These black metal tracks rip and snarl, trying to claw their way to the promise of the shimmering euphoria to which those pop undertones elude, but ultimately falling short. Desperate Dreams is tagged on Bandcamp as “depressive black metal,” and despite an abundance of what could only be described as feel good moments, there’s an ever-present bleakness to these songs as Emin’s sorrowful screams betray the bright music surrounding him.

There is beauty in the existential struggle we all face as sentient beings. The daunting task of finding meaning, understanding ourselves, and ultimately surrendering to our own demise. Violet Cold has managed to stir that beauty to the top of the pot, if only for a brief 33 minutes, and asked us to consider this balance of light and shadow. The contrast and the interconnectedness of it all. The idea that even though we may always walk in the shadows, we are by definition never far from the light.

Inter Arma - The Cavern

By Celtic Frosty. Inter Arma’s The Cavern tells the tale of a lost and dying soul in the desert. Our hero eventually comes upon a cave where he awaits his final fate

By Celtic Frosty.


Inter Arma’s The Cavern tells the tale of a lost and dying soul in the desert. Our hero eventually comes upon a cave where he awaits his final fate, and in the end is consoled by a death-like figure who welcomes him into the black. It seems a fitting and somewhat inevitable tale for the likes of Inter Arma. After all, the band’s last album was called Sky Burial, a reference to a Tibetan tradition of laying the dead to rest on a mountaintop to be eaten by birds of prey.

But it’s not the story that makes The Cavern remarkable. From pounding, doom-laden riffs and throaty screams to proggy instrumental passages to clean vocals and violins, Inter Arma is intent on taking the listener through a musical odyssey that captures the imagination and surprises with its ballsy twists and turns. The degree of difficulty here is immense, and the cohesiveness with which Inter Arma pulls it all off is an impressive feat for even the most seasoned of bands.

Photos by Carmelo Española

On a granular level, the musicianship on The Cavern is sublime. The drumming throughout the song’s 45 minutes is expressive on an almost primal level, pounding out the long arc of a solid and massive backbone. The clean instrumental passages that roam the mid-section of the track build patiently toward those exhilarating peaks of masterful, extended guitar solos. Chunky, slow-burning riffs round out the composition, digging the deepest valleys and delivering hooks all the way down that claw their way in and settle for days.

In a way The Cavern seemed inevitable, and it may yet turn out to be Inter Arma’s greatest musical achievement. It’s a statement of refusal to be categorized. The edges of a half dozen genres bleed together in a dark and beautiful tapestry that covers a wide swath of the musical landscape. With this statement, Inter Arma thrust themselves onto metal’s center stage and demand our attention. Nothing left to do except shut up and listen.