Varhara´s third album is a treasure chest of mighty, melodic, and cascading atmospheric metal music.

As with other bands from the scene in St. Petersburg, they have their distinct sound. If you know the band from before (like our two recent premieres), you will notice that, on this album, they have taken their Atmospheric Black Metal-induced music further into the Atmospheric realms of both Post-Metal and Black Metal. The core of this kind of music from the western edge of Russia, no matter how heavy, sludgy, dense, raw, and rough the music seems, always comes with captivating melodic sonics, and it always shimmers with elegance.

”Смола (The pitch)” opens the album with strumming guitars swirling from right to left and back before the hard and dense sonics yank you into murky musical realms with powerful hoarse vocals. The guitars lay the groundwork, combined with the ever-present synth, that elevates the melodic themes that run through the track. The bass is breathing fire and ice while the diverse drums both widen and tighten the soundscape shifting between a rumbling drum set with some blast beats. The music opens wide before it tightens back with bass grooves and blast drums, soaring harmonies between guitars and synths, and in the center, the vocals are getting breathless and rougher around the edges, but keeping the melodic pitch of the vocals intact.

With the second song, ”Ураган (Hurricane)”, the sound dims even further, becoming dark and murky with clean baritone vocals. The latter fuse into snarling mode, the music rises and soars above. The track is expansive and cascading forward, pushed by the rhythm section. The collapsing song holds back a bit, leaving a vast space for blasting drums before it surges back. It is very melodic, at the same time having a somber timbre rising from the foundations and the hurried vocals. The composition begins to oscillate around a melody and combines everything with the rhythm section slowly rising into the foreground. The synth is like a distant choir following the motif until the end.

A clean guitar is slowly forming the musical ideas that will be central on the song ”Искра (Spark)”. Cymbals begin to glimmer as the bass provides the deep grooves, followed by a swell of cascading, mellow, dark sonics that embrace the listener. It is somber and comfortable, and its opacity is slowly moving forward, led by the measured rhythm section. Synths work like a choral element while the real, snarling vocals begin. The music is reflective, and it is fitting that the choir-like synths are replaced by a real-life vocal ensemble, similar to an Orthodox Russian male choir, adding another dimension to the austere atmosphere in the fleeting music. The singers go deep, as oktavists in such groups often do, contrasting the snarls of the main vocals. Then the music lets up and the strumming guitar is back before it fuses back to thoughtful sonics with blasting drums and soaring synths that meander in the dark places bringing in alternative melodic themes.

The band shows its significant musical skills in how to create and orchestrate textured music like this on the album´s title song, when the discordant, clear guitar with a sense of musical influences from the Slavic East is slowly immersed in powerful sonics. Surrounded by a second guitar, low-end bass, and synths, the clean opening line continues to play on the shimmering strings, contrasting the sludgy atmospheric music surrounding it. Then the music lifts as the guitar turns into fast tremolo mode and the drums turn to blast mode, sprinkling with cymbals. The guitar goes higher as it billows through the sonics with subtle shifts in the flow and then it turns into a fuzzy solo hidden deep in the melancholic atmosphere that is oozing from every corner here. There is another subtle change as the guitar turns back to tremolo mode, intensifying the torrential musical soundscape, driving forward with full force in an everlasting crescendo.

On ”Праздник (The Celebration)”, the oktavist-induced Orthodox Russian choir returns to great effect. It contrasts the main vocalist´s fierce growling screams while the group rises somberly in the middle of the track´s music. Adding to the heavy, atmospheric music, there are ever-present soaring synths that hover in the sonics. The musical flow is very strong before it opens up with synths in a lighter choir mode. Even with drums in blastbeats, followed by the bass, the music is like a solemn procession, which is certainly true when the male choir returns and the lighter synths rise behind it, surrounded by darkness.

The album closes with a dense song, ”Буриал (Burial)” with translucent parts delivered by a higher-pitched guitar as it tightens its rhythm, driving forward. It is dark, eerie, and captivating, especially the desperate sorrow that emanates from the wretched hoarse growls. The song has lingering, moody sounds provided by the guitars above the massive, weighty rhythm section. Towards the end the track connects the murky opaque sonics with translucent synths and desperate vocals that have a echo deep in the music, and the last lines sung reflects desperate loneliness ”Cold red sky, / I gave you everything I have / There is no answer in the clear-sighted eyes, / There is nothing in them anymore.” (Google translated from Russian)