Violet Cold - kOsmik (2019)

Embracing the contrast between dreaminess and aggression, today we have Azerbaijan’s one-man battalion Violet Cold and his latest full-length release “kOsmik”. Perfectly blending elements from Shoegaze, Post-Black Metal, Post-Metal, with very interesting more mainstream elements, the band’s releases are always very interesting to dissect since you will spend days trying to peel all the layers to be found. Clocking in at 36 minutes, this album will fly by very quickly, but it just means you get to start it again.

Creating a very soothing and uplifting mood with the opener “Contact”, this vibe transforms with the heaviness of “Black Sun”. The Shoegazey guitars are nicely contrasted with harsh vocals as this track travels between atmospheric passages, somber female vocals and an overall more aggressive and hectic pace. Creating a very Alcest-like heavenly mood, “Mamihlapinatapai” is definitely one of the most magical and engaging songs in this release thanks to its vocal arrangements and overall pace.

The slow “Space Funeral” interestingly combines Post-Rock/Blackgaze dreaminess with a Funeral Doom pace and deep growls that sound quite soothing and magical. Masterfully controlling the music tempo to create very dramatic pieces, “Ultraviolet” is one of our favorite tracks thanks to its very well timed progression and the crafty instrumentation. The album title track leads with hyper-fast drumming and a very aggressive opening. This is later shifted into a dreamier territories, particularly with the bombastic female vocals that will completely catch you off guard.

Calming down with the instrumental “Ai(r)”, we are left quite impressed with the ability of Violet Cold to create very dramatic soundscapes that seamlessly go from uplifting to very aggressive and explosive. “kOsmik” is definitely one of the most engaging and different Post-Black Metal/Blackgaze releases of 2019, so be sure to check it out.

Label: Avantgarde Music

Release:April 11th, 2019

Genre: Post-Black Metal / Atmospheric Black Metal / Blackgaze

Country: Azerbaijan