Vaura – The Missing Review

I am occasionally hyper-critical of bands that fiddle with the primeval black metal formula, particularly when the fiddling is rooted in an over-sentimentalization that clouds the genre’s core nihilism. This awareness is to blame for the advancing hours I’ve spent jabbing at acts such as Alcest and Amesoeurs over the years, but it doesn’t do much to clarify why I’ll assholishly give a free pass to black metal gilding outfits like ColdWorld and Agalloch. One man’s Twilight is another man’s House of the Seven Gables, I suppose.

I bring this up because I often hear Brooklyn’s Vaura getting tossed around in conversations pertaining to “post black metal that really pushes the genre’s envelope,” which is the sort of statement that would normally rouse the itch to pounce. But you know, I really enjoy what these guys are peddling. 2012’s Selenelion won me over after first reading and hearing about it over at Aquarius Records, and The Missing has solidified my conviction by determinedly bending any notion of a sophomore slump over the railing and boinking the bejesus out of it.

Beyond the clear distinction that the band is made up of prime players who list Dysrhythmia, Gorguts, Asva and Kayo Dot on their resumé, the key to Vaura‘s success lies in the fact that they’re not actually a heavy metal band. This is dark music that’s primarily rooted in the shoegaze rock movement of the early 90s that just so happens to toss elements of extreme metal into the formula. In other words, you ain’t likely to bite the bait unless you’re inclined to gobble down stuff like Slowdive, Swervedriver and Ride. The fact that certain cuts incorporate additional moments of tremolo picking and aggressive drumming is just gravy on the taters.

For those already familiar with the equation, album #2 manages a pretty similar path compared to Selenelion, but with a stronger emphasis on “the hook.” Whether it’s a smoothly infectious vocal refrain, some gloomily inviting stretch of 80s goth-bass bubbling, or any of the near countless moments where contagious guitar bits sink grapples into your brain – The Missing delivers fifty minutes of purely addictive modern darkwave/gaze well-suited for anyone in cahoots with the gothic side of the game. “Mare of the Snake,” for example, has that sort of malancholy pop sensibility that allowed The Cure to kill it for so many years. And “Incomplete Burning” opens with the prettiest goddamn guitar lick you’ll hear this year. By the time this tune creeps into that beautifully overcast, slower stretch at 3:50, you’ll be digging around for those old Pale Saints albums in storage and reminiscing about failed crushes and sneaking smokes behind the monkey bars before English class.

But it’s not just the roots chained to shoegaze rock that makes things so engaging. Despite my comment about Vaura not being a metal band, they’re clearly unafraid to divvy out a percentage of noisier, heavier elements to give The Missing a metallic sharp edge. In fact, five of the ten tunes presented feature varying degrees of black metallish picking and hurried drums that ebb and flow seamlessly with the overall gloom, so in that regard, this record is actually heavier than what the band produced on their debut. “Abeyance” is straight-up NOISY right from the gate, and things don’t fully calm down again until it drifts into the album’s elegantly drifting, dreary closer, “Putting Flesh to Bone.”

In summation, The Missing might not be the kind of album you need to move to the top of your to-do list if you’re hoping for a fresh slab of black metal with gothic inclinations, but if some sort of amalgam of the reverse sounds compelling, this record throws down aces. Definitely one of 2013’s more rewarding releases.

Posted by Captain

Last Rites Co-Owner; Senior Editor; That was my skull!

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