Vukari – En to Pan

In spite of how difficult this is going to be for you to believe, we do, at times, make mistakes.  In research, no, never (or we hide it before you notice).  This is a different type of a mistake.  This is a "where did I put that?" mistake.  This is a "wait a minute what is this record amongst these other records?" mistake.  This is a "oh, damn, need to review this there it is" mistake.  Here at Deaf Sparrow, three mistakes equal a right, we form the Holy Trinity of excuses to bless us in order to write an introduction, such as the one you are reading right now.  "When are they going to talk about the music?"  The answer is we always talk about the music, but we talk about it in ways that are not for those who move without the spirit.  The Holy Spirit, the second corner of the trinity of mistakes, the energy that drives all inactivity into activity.  We spew words formed from random letters, we give meaning to nonsense, feel the fire, let it flow through your veins.  Our Sparrow, who are online, vndergrovnd, not cult, be thy name, thy reviews come, thy will be done, send all the autocrats to heaven.  Give us this day our daily review, and forgive us our liking of bands reviewed in Decibel.  Lead us not into plebeianism, and deliver us from kvlt, mortem ad plebem.


If you made it this far, you are forgiven.  Onward.  We feel really bad we forgot about this one, honestly we do, because vinyl deserves immediate attention, even if the band burned into its surface blows an obelisk, because it's so damn expensive to create, store, and ship these stinking things.  And when it's actually good, ah, then it's best to spread the word immediately.  We, however, are lowly sinners stuck in original sin, and see what happened was we got this in the mail, said "oh yes awesome," and then somehow it got shuffled into a bunch of old records, right behind a copy of something by Peter Gabriel.  How did it get there?  No matter, onward.  Vukari is a fledging black metal outfit from out of Chicago, able to snag a vinyl release on 1859 Records, who are more of a newborn in terms of their age.  Regardless of time spent on this wretched earth, the little one and I (editor) pulled it out, laid down, relaxed, and let it flow.


Vukari play an atmospheric form of black metal that fits easily into the post movement, with stronger focus on emotion over aggression.  However, they avoid the shoegaze direction taken by many, which is, at least at times, the easy way out.  En to Pan is impressive in how fluidly it moves from peace to power.  Vukari slide with ease between open space and enclosing force it's as seamless as a straitjacket but completely unconfined.  In fact for what you expect out of American black metal, it's rather amazing.  The music runs in several different directions, yet always seems to end up in the same location when it's over.  In addition, the vocals have a sense of paleness to them, but under that weak skin is solid bone supporting the sickened frame, in the sense that the delivery is both delicate while threatening.  So this EP is something of a careful balance between two main, opposing forces, if you will, but instead of finding it self falling to one side or the other at any moment, Vukari has found a way to make it all work in the middle, which ends up being a largely amazing, though short listen. In fact our daughter, though still quite little, was getting quick a kick out of attempting to scream along.  If there is any fault to be found, however, it's that in spite of their perfection in form, Vukrai provide nothing innovative for either black metal or post-black metal, relying on some pretty traditional sound for their overall approach.  For an additional note, this played on our old stereo, and it sounded much better than digitally.  Something about it, perhaps accidental, makes it sound a hell of a lot better in analog, so we suggest you pick up any copies, should they remain.  Hopefully we'll to see more from these guys and the label that appears to enjoy taking chances.


Vukari Official Facebook

Written by Stanley Stepanic

Vukari: En to Pan
1859 Records
4.3 / 5