VIHMANA “Un Ocaso Trascendente” /CD/

The debut full-length studio album by Spanish Death/Doom/Folk Metal one-man band.
The Ethnic Doom/Death Folk Metal project of Nacho Hernández from Madrid was formed in 2007 with the basic idea to mix various Metal and Rock styles with Ethnic Folk music. In 2009 he released the EP “Templo” and 4 years later he returns with his first full-length album.
“Un Ocaso Trascendente” is a very experimental work and a really difficult to describe the album. Compared to the raw and somehow amateur sound of “Templo“, now there is a huge improvement sound-wise, especially in the Metal instruments, since the Folk acoustic parts were already very good.
There are 8 songs in the album, with a total duration a little over 37 minutes, including a beautiful cover of the song “Amatevi” from the world Ethnic-Electronica Sicilian band Agricantus. There are also many guest musicians in this album on bass, drums, flutes, acoustic guitars and vocals, making Vihmana’s sound more rich and natural. The music is very variable and each song is totally different from the other. Nacho Hernández combines middle-Eastern, oriental and Latin music with Folk Black/Death Metal, Progressive and Classic Rock, Soundtrack music and Doom Metal. He doesn’t try to play everything at once, but he prefers to move from one genre to the other. Vocal lines are also very variable, changing from brutal growls and clean Metal singing to rRock style and Folk vocals, according to the demands of each song. This is a very ambitious and difficult experiment and the risks of sounding somehow “random” were big. Luckily (and skillfully) ”Un Ocaso Trascendente” has a very strong atmosphere that keeps all these separate pieces together. Of course, their music is difficult to “digest” and you must give it more time before you fully comprehend it. The lyrics are again in Spanish and if you understand the language, you can read them in the booklet.
Vihmana is a very special band and their music is quite bizarre and unusual to categorize. Their new album is more mature, rich and better produced that the debut EP. This could be a very interesting listening for fans of Folk Experimental Metal and for other listeners as well, since it covers a great range of influences!
Nooirax Producciones, 2013 (NOAX-41). Pressed in Spain. First press.


Tracklist:
1. Un ocaso 
2. Al alba inhumana 
3. Caminante del sueño 
4. Alminar 
5. Hasta nuestra completa aniquilación 
6. El rumbo de nadie 
7. Monzón 
8. Amatevi (Agricantus cover)
Total playing time: 37:10 min.


Samples: https://nooirax.bandcamp.com