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This can’t have been an easy album to make. Uada produced a near-perfect album in 2020’s Djinn, and after that lineup changes transformed the band, and the pandemic years have not been easy on anyone. So, following up a masterwork with a mostly new lineup was never going to be easy. With only original guitarist/vocalist Jake Superchi (also a mainstay of the underrated Ceremonial Castings) remaining from the old band, can this new work stand up to their past?

It can. Is it as good as Djinn? No, it’s pretty much inarguably not, but it can hold its head up beside the excellent Cult of a Dying Sun. The songwriting is pure Uada, with the deep, layered melodies and inventive time shifts we expect from this band. It’s not as audacious as Djinn, and overall I think the recording is a bit too weak for my taste, without enough bottom end to really make this sound huge. If Djinn was the sound of Uada pushing themselves, this is the sound of the band pushing to sound like themselves. I don’t want to sound like I don’t like this, because I like it a lot, and it is an excellent album in its own right. If you like deeply melodic, haunting Black Metal that doesn’t sound like anyone else, then any Uada album is worth your time.