Album Review: Vale of Pnath – Between The Worlds of Life and Death (Willowtip Records)

Vale of Pnath will release highly anticipated new album ‘Between The Worlds of Life and Death’ on CD, vinyl, and digital formats May 24th, 2024, via Willowtip Records.

Tech-death with an epic twist, it’s been five years since Vale of Pnath’s last release (the Accursed EP) and the time spent honing their sound has well and truly paid off. Between the Worlds of Life and Death is a mighty album that makes their tech-death sound that bit more accessible, while not losing the core heaviness that is so synonymous with them.

A very big start with The Forgotten Path (Intro) leads to a brutish and brash explosion of heavy guitars and drums on Silent Prayer. The vocals are guttural and vulgar sounding, but the track has a thick vein of harmony running through it that makes it much more alluring.

The wonders never cease with this band though, and the speeding crash of instruments that makes Soul Offering such a manic listen continues to showcase the wicked delights of this band. It’s also the first of many tracks that feature a guest solo, with Cradle of Filth/Aether Realm’s Donny Burbage making an appearance here.

He also drops another intense guest solo on the following Shadow, alongside Demon King’s Matthew Brown. A track with dark edges, a track with a strong sense of foreboding, and a track with a monumentally heavy sound overall. No amount of layered melody can diminish the feral energy of this one, even if a haunting drop does add some welcome ambience.

The way in which Vale of Pnath deliver grandiose soundscapes without losing an inch of heaviness is startling. This aspect of their sound, alongside a less flashy style of technical aptitude, is the reason why the album stays so listenable as it goes on. Uncertain Tomorrow, which features a guest solo from Christian Muenzner of Necrophagist/Obscura/Alkaloid, Beneath Ashen Skies, which features a guest solo from Interloper’s Miles Dimitri Baker, and No Return, No Regret, which features a guest solo from Michael Wilson, are all beastly sounding. Yet, they’re also impressively addictive and emphatically detailed.

It’s over surprisingly quickly, which is no bad thing, showing just how accessible this kind of intensity is. Echoes Of The Past (Interlude) cleansing the palette in preparation for the smorgasbord of lavish heaviness that comes from Burning Light. The exclamation point on a stellar release. It has been well and truly worth the wait.

Vale of Pnath – Between The Worlds of Life and Death Track Listing:

1. The Forgotten Path (Intro)
2. Silent Prayer
3. Soul Offering
4. Shadow
5. Uncertain Tomorrow
6. Beneath Ashen Skies
7. No Return, No Regret
8. Echoes Of The Past (Interlude)
9. Burning Light

Links

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