Ofnus - Valediction
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OFNUS - VALEDICTION LABEL: NATURMACHT PRODUCTIONS RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 28th 2025
From a place of certainty and strength, a life built upon an assumed understanding and enriched with happiness, I was flung violently into a maelstrom of chaos and madness. My light was gone and all I knew was shattered. Every truth had become a lie in the space between one breath and the next, a complete inversion of all I knew to be right. I thought I had understood the meaning of sadness, of pain, what it was to be alone…I had understood nothing. I had walked in sunlit ignorance, never seeing the crevasses that split my path. But now I was falling, falling through darkness, barely able to breathe let alone order my scattered thoughts or comprehend the agony that threatened to tear my heart apart and consume me…
After the universal critical acclaim garnered by their debut album, Time Held Me Grey And Dying, Wales’ most imaginative and creative practitioners of black metal’s dark arts have returned. With the stated intent of crafting their country’s ‘most ambitious and uncompromising extreme metal album to date’ they have offered up the many splendored Valediction, an album that charts the journey through grief – from initial trauma to final acceptance or endless sorrow. Before listening you may feel their goal a lofty one, after listening you’ll know that they have achieved more than they dared to dream possible. With opening track and first single, ‘The Shattering’, we embark on a harrowing journey, as rich in musical wonders as it is in the realisation of painful emotion. We are flung into a tumult of events – hit with crunching impact and spun through webs of confusion and bewilderment. The music hollows us, savagely carving away the structure and solidity of our lives. Superb, melodious guitar work creates pools of reflective stillness within the storm and this moment where a life changes course forever seems to stretch into eternity. As the album progresses classic black metal forms are masterfully manipulated, coaxed into new exhilarating and breathtaking edifices. The vast storm clouds of grief gather behind the cold, ugliness of denial and the grand, dramatic flame of anger. ‘Proteus’ leads us through the huge peaks and troughs of emotion, the false hopes and despair of bargaining with higher powers. And here the spirit of pain that has been waiting implacably in the wings begins to rise to the surface. There is an overwhelming sense of tragedy in the melody lines as ‘Proteus’ nears its conclusion, the awful futility of the situation becoming clear. Mourning strings cut deep as ‘Zenith Dolour’ drags us down into the deepest trenches of depression and melancholy, its contrasts and juxtapositions of sound reflecting the different hues of sadness; the life sapping despair, the jagged agony, the seemingly insurmountable intensity of grief. Perhaps the greatest piece to grace Valediction comes in its title track – a song of acceptance that is wonderfully measured, like sunlight slowly breaking over the dark hills on a distant horizon, with individual note choices marking the telling moments as the realisation of the possibility of a new, different future dawns. The balance of bittersweet farewell and the reclaiming of a life beyond pain is a remarkable accomplishment. Of course we are in the realms of black metal here so Ofnus provide us with an alternate ending in ‘Alazia’ – a reminder that some will never find acceptance, their wheel of life will cease to turn and leave them trapped in rage, agony and darkness. It’s a vicious conclusion, infused with fear and oppressive darkness, with forbidding chord progressions leading ever downwards into night. It’s an incredible, shocking end to a breathtaking album.
Since the release of Time Held Me Grey And Dying Ofnus have performed live alongside the likes of Arkona, Wayfarer, The Infernal Sea and many more, even performing at the 2023 Bloodstock Festival – and every single second of those experiences have been drawn upon to make Valediction the outstanding album that it is. The mixing and mastering team of William Philpot and Abraham Fihema who worked such magic on Time Held Me Grey And Dying, have been trusted again and the sound they have achieved on Valediction is a superb – accommodating the layers and textures, the array of moods and atmospheres and the subtly shifting and developing sonic palette. The artwork of Ben J that adorns the cover of Valediction is another absolute triumph, completing and complementing the songs beneath its evocative shroud. When Naturmacht Productions release Valediction on February 28th there can be little doubt that Ofnus will begin an irresistible ascent to the very highest echelons of black metal.
Genre: Atmospheric/Melodic Black Metal
For fans of: Emperor | Fuath | Saor | Drudkh Line-up:
William Philpot - Vocals/Lyrics
Richard Rees - Bass
Alyn Hunter - Rhythm Guitar/Composer
James Ponsford - Lead Guitar
Ethan Rees-Spargo - Drums/Lyrics
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