Indonesia Vallendusk is one of my favorite atmospheric black metal bands, so when I heard that Numeron was from also Indonesia, played the same style of black metal, AND have a concept album based on Norse mythology, I had to check it out.

And while not quite as good as Vallendusk, they are still really good, and Road to Valhalla is a killer album, that certainly does imbue Vallendusk with their melodic, atmospheric, shimmering take on black metal.

Full of jangly, melodic 6/8 tremolo-picked riffs, high-pitched shrieks some lovely atmospheric bridges, and a few keyboards, Numeron is the very definition of melodic/atmospheric black metal. And when they lock into a sublime, harmonic riff, as they often do, the results are quite breathtaking.

However, even though this is a Viking/Norse-themed album, there isn’t anything in the riffs or structures (or even cover art) that scream ‘Viking’. There are no beerhall chants or pagan black metal chord progressions that scream ‘Viking’. Even the song titles don’t clue you in, other than “Valhalla”. But regardless of the theme of the album, this is purely about wondrous, happy, emotive, melodic riffs and key changes that are fully rooted in that early Deafheaven, Falls of Rauros, Downfall of Gaia, Vallendusk , Alda, Alcest, realm.

All the songs deliver something special within the genre’s paradigms, but notably tracks like “Believer”, with its gorgeous cello break, Vallendusk-esque “Noise of Dystopia”, ”Valhalla”,  and personal favorite “Lustre”, which is well….lustrous.  Only closer “Epifora” breaks the pretty consistent stride of the album with a slower, more despondent black metal pace. And the songs are largely shorter and to the point with the album’s longest cut being 7 and a half minutes, that’s a grindcore song in the atmospheric black metal world.

A pleasant surprise of an album from out of nowhere (for me anyways), that will tide me over until Vallendusk drops another album. Great stuff.

Also, on an unrelated note, Chile’s Tragedy Productions has now released 2 albums that will more than likely end up on my year-end list with this and Winds of Tragedy‘s Hating Life. Not bad for a small new label that only has barely double-digit releases under their belt.

 

[Visit the band's website]

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