Rejecting any light

The guys throw us into the deep end with opener Natus Eclipsim song and while the slow ones among us are still trying to figure out how to say the title and what it means, the band is off into the far horizons with runaway tremolo guitar lines, militaristic hammering drums and a heroic, almost folk-ish style of declamatory vocals that dominate the song. The riffs and melodies have a swanky rollicking groove and alternate with more furious blast-beat bursts of attacking guitars and tom-toms being pounded into pancakes. The lyrics do lean in the direction of communion with nature but apart from the words, the song is as far from Cascadian atmospheric black metal as can be. The UADA - Devoid of Light title track is a very darkened beast with deep crunching grind riffs, equally subterranean vocals and more rapid-fire shredding of skins and strings. These guys certainly know their black metal and use their influences and inspirations to drum up some very powerful and speedy black art. They need to take care though that the screaming and howling don't go overboard into cartoonish theatrics.
The band keeps going with plenty of fire and aggression to spare with third track S.N.M. boasting some good lead guitar melody lines and inspired riffing. If only they could have laid off the falsetto howling. After the third track the band's melodic tendencies in the Our Pale Departure song start coming to the fore with some interesting twists and changes of mood along with a long runaway instrumental section where the guys keep playing for sheer enjoyment at the power and energy they generate and bounce among themselves.
Closing track Black Autumn, White Spring features plenty of hard-rocking moments and blast-beat power before transforming in its final moments into a soaring epic blackened death drama climaxing in a frenzied flyaway lead guitar solo heading off into the heavens.