Hail the Warrior

Valhalla Bound is a Finnish black metal band that jumped into the Ildjarn-worship bandwagon in 2016. Though the members were anonymous and didn't had any lyrics up, their debut album "Hail the Warrior" grew a cult following within the underground due to its raw, uncompromised nature. And after listening to this album, it's no doubt a pretty rough one to listen to.

The opening track "White and Blue, Red, Black and White" begins with a minute of a minimalist synth piece before cutting straight into the madness. The guitar riff is very bare-boned composition-wise with only one riff repeating throughout the track, but its raw and abrasive sound evokes a violent tone in the atmosphere. The same can also be said about the bass, with its deep tuning and and a groovy bass line that is eerily similar to those bass lines of Ildjarn. Even the drum machine is repetitive with its constant blastbeats and the occasional cymbal strike further pushing the intensity of the track. Overall, the minimal composition of the approach is similar to that of Ildjarn, but the track does go all the way in the more aggressive and violent side of Ildjarn's minimalist black metal style, which is done exceptionally well on that track. The same can also be said to the first half of this album, including tracks "Thrones Conquered" and "Bring Back the Rope" that feel barbaric and intense. However, the album does kind of lose its steam in the second half, as the last few tracks sound a bit more noisy than usual. It's especially the case in "Ride the Tiger", where the riffs are harder to decipher. Nevertheless, when the instruments are good, they're really good at annihilating everything in sight with its raw power.

The vocals are also just as devastating. Granted that the mixing of the vocals isn't the best, it compromises that with an intense screaming technique that only enhances the raw and disorganized atmosphere. A good example of this is in the track "Grave Dance", where the more bombastic approach in that track flows well with the agonizing screams of torment, almost as if there is something disturbing with the dance. Though the mixing between the vocals and instrumentals could've been a bit better, they're nonetheless just as insane.

As far as debuts go, "Hail the Warrior" is no doubt a strong opener for the band. While the second half doesn't exactly hit as hard, the first four to five tracks remain some of the most violent and abrasive I've heard from the Ildjarn-worship genre, and is definitely something you should check out if you want to heard Ildjarn in a more primal, aggressive state.