Band: WALSUNG
Country: Brazil
Title: Perpetual Blood
Label: Voluspa Records
Year: 2016
Style: Viking Black Metal

Review:
Although an old release, this was sent to me for review so I have to respect it, and after all it's only 3 years since it's out, not like others that send 5+ years old materials. This is the debut and so far the only studio album from Sao Paulo based duo Walsung, a 12 tracks effort clocking almost 50 minutes of playing time, with the 12th track being a bonus, a song taken from their 2005 demo. in the meantime the band has released 3 more splits, but no new EP or album, so I guess this is still their actual orientation and it represents what they stand for. I'd say this is a combination of Viking Metal a la Vintersorg with Melodic Black Metal and Pagan Black Metal a la Temnozor on the side, catchy compositions with rhythms ranging from slow and epic to fast and aggressive, catchy guitar harmonies, keyboard-built intermezzos and vocals that balance between abrasive shrieks and Vintersorg-like solemn clean tonalities. The drumming sounds a bit stale and repetitive in my opinion, but that doesn't ruin the audition at all, it actually divert attention towards the excellent guitar work and upfront vocals. Not sure if this is still an actual style, at least here in Europe, it was on tops in the first part of the 2000's, but this album is well done, it has everything you need as a fan of the genre so obviously I'd recommend it to Viking/Pagan Metal followers. I also have to mention the excellent cover and booklet art reminding of Brittish bands like Forefather or The Meads of Asphodel.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7.5/10

Contact:
facebook.com/walsung
volusparecords.com