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Darvaza - We Are Him
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Available Dec 5 via Terratur Possessions - Darvaza’s We Are Him pursues a familiar lineage of adversarial black metal but strips it to fundamentals, pressure, repetition and intent. Omega and Wraath operate inside a vocabulary they know thoroughly, and the result is a record that understands tradition without bothering to modernize. Terratur Possessions issues it as the duo’s second full-length, a decade after their formation, and the release confirms their commitment to a style that privileges atmosphere through discipline.
Darvaza’s We Are Him pursues a familiar lineage of adversarial black metal but strips it to fundamentals, pressure, repetition and intent. Omega and Wraath operate inside a vocabulary they know thoroughly, and the result is a record that understands tradition without bothering to modernize. Terratur Possessions issues it as the duo’s second full-length, a decade after their formation, and the release confirms their commitment to a style that privileges atmosphere through discipline.
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The album opens with theatrical framing before dropping into its true pace, mid-tempo, steady, and unembellished. The blast beats are intermittent, the double bass subdued, the riffs locked into a narrow tonal band. That restraint shapes the record’s identity. The aggression arrives not through speed but through insistence. The comparisons to Unchain the Wolves and Sworn to the Dark are accurate in spirit, the same primal momentum drives the material here.
Tracks ‘Holy Blood’ and ‘A Last Prayer in Gethsemane’ lean on repetition as structural weight. Wraath’s delivery keeps the phrasing sharp, almost ritualistic. Omega’s production choices give the guitars grit, which suits the duo’s commitment to keeping the music unmannered. When the band shifts into the slower churn of ‘Lazarus,’ the Black-and-Roll undercurrent surfaces, grounding the record in corporeal rhythm.
The limitation is also the record’s ceiling. The uniform pacing narrows the emotional bandwidth, and the writing rarely pushes beyond its established frame. We Are Him maintains coherence, but coherence turns static when variation is scarce. Only the closing title track breaks fully from that constraint, showing a level of intensity and articulation that outstrips the preceding material.
The album stands as a competent, fully aligned statement of Darvaza’s ethos, Satanic, traditional, and adversarial. Carrying conviction, but conviction alone doesn’t elevate it. The craft is solid, the intent clear, and the impact limited.
9/10
Words by Fuego Casa
In collaboration with Headbangers Australia
