Empire of Love

Violet Cold's spot in the post-black metal scene has been an interesting one. Formed in 2013, the band has not only dwelled into black metal territory, but has also experimented in other genres from ambient, folk, crust punk, and even jazz. In 2021, however, the band gained some notoriety in the metal scene with their album "Empire of Love", in which the cover featured a crescent moon on a rainbow, which went against the "trve kvlt" standards of black metal elitists. But when you're looking at this on its own merits, it's actually some really good stuff.

The album begins with Cradle, a folk instrumental that eventually evolves into a metal portion. It's okay, but compared to other intros of the band, is on the lower end of the quality spectrum. But it's not until you get into the next track "Pride" that things get insane. While the instruments themselves play some standard post-black metal, there's also a sample of a woman singing a melodic tune. This sample only amplifies the triumphant atmosphere of the track, and the blackgaze style of the riffs is also done well. The track is pretty powerful with this mash of stylistic elements, and it continues down this borderline metal-pop line throughout the album. Tracks like "We Met During the Revolution" and "Working Class" are especially good at this pop mix, with the former in particular being the best track on this album as it's basically modern shoegaze-era Deafheaven done right. However, there are a couple of tracks that do feel a bit gimmicky, like "Be like Magic" and its trap elements not being a good blend. But while this metal-pop style doesn't always work, it's still an interesting mix that actually kind of works.

The vocals are also really good. Emin Guliyev's vocals have been a staple in the band's discography, and this album is no exception. He still mainly does some shrieks that add in more intensity within the melodic tracks, but he also goes for some different vocal styles. "We Met During the Revolution", for example, has its first half consist of a robotic voice singing, which flows perfectly to the blackgaze riffs, and "Shegnificant" having a female vocalist sing in this really calming and angelic tone that once again empowers the melodic and exciting atmosphere. Even with some of the weaker tracks, the vocals are still strong enough to power through the tracks, whether they include shrieking or not.

"Empire of Love" is pretty much designed to provoke the elitists from the start, especially with its album cover and unusual blend of metal and pop. And while I can't say it's done perfectly, I will give it credit for not only being creative, but also working much of the time. It might not be for everyone, but if you're into some experimental black metal, then I'd say give this one a spin.

Just by looking at the album cover of "Empire of Love", you know that this album is in first place a political statement. It displays the rainbow flag together with star and crescent, the probably most iconic symbol in muslim culture. The layout is resembling the flag of Azerbaijan, the home country of Violet Cold. This cover seeks attention, and it got mine immediately, knowing about the authoritarian and homophobic government there.

There are more woke messages throughout the whole album. They might not go well with everyone, yet it is easy to see how Violet Cold's woke identity is compelling and authentic given the cultural background of the artist. I would recommend anyone from either side of the political spectrum to have a deeper look into this, if only to understand the risks and restrictions metal artists around the world are still exposed to.

As for the music itself, Violet Cold is walking on the same post-black metal paths which have been made popular by Deafheaven. This means, the music is rooted in black metal but diluted with shoegaze and post-rock. Violet Cold also attempts to polarise on how listeners conceive metal music by breaking traditional metal sounds and patterns. This can be heard by the EDM influences in "We met during the revolution", raps in "Be like magic", the use of banjo as a lead instrument in "Working class", or the pop vocals in "Shegnificant". Sometimes it works out very well. Sometimes, it doesn't, in particular at the end of the album, when experimentation gets too repetitive. This ultimately prevents me from giving a higher rating for "Empire of Love".

Highlight of the album is certainly "Pride", which sounds like a mash-up of a black gaze anthem with an electro pop song. At first glance, both styles don't seem to fit together, but the result is surprisingly captivating and uplifting, even happy and euphoric at times. Remember, how you occassionally thought that some post-black metal songs sounds pretty "gay"? Here you find an artist who intentationally made the gayest post-black metal song ever, and it is a total banger. This is an achievement to stay.