TheHeavyMetalCat Uada's third and at the time of posting most recent album Djinn was released in 2020 and like the previous album Cult of a Dying Sun before it shows the band trying to grow as musicians, resulting in an album that, while still belonging to the melodic black metal genre (with atmospheric elements) fells less like a more of a same record than Cult of a Dying Sun did to their debut album Devoid of Light. The band still clearly likes to write long songs though and across Djinn's six tracks we have received the longest Uada numbers to date with two being closer to the fourteen minute barrier than not. One of these, No Place Here, especially stands out at once as being among Uada's best work and overall it's another excellent release from the US group that for me marks a very slight step up from Cult of a Dying Sun but not enough to top their debut.

TheHeavyMetalCat Uada's sophomore album Cult of a Dying Sun was released in 2018, just over two years since their debut album Devoid of Light. Cult of a Dying Sun is the kind of release where it's certainly a case of being more of the same but a band clearly also trying to do more with it, which is most immediately evident in the difference in total running time, almost fifty-six minutes compared to under thirty-four, although there are only two extra songs compared to the first record. Uada certainly tends to write songs with long track times and fortunately they have the song-writing skill to back up what might be seen as overly indulgent in a lesser group. Cult of a Dying Sun is perhaps slightly less effective as a whole than the band's first album, but it's a worthy follow-up to a top tier debut.

TheHeavyMetalCat Uada's debut album Devoid of Light was released in 2016 and contains five tracks totalling just under thirty-four minutes of music. While far off being able to be called a substantial release in those terms, Devoid of Light is at least a work of high quality material that will couple well with the running time to assure repeated listens. The style of music is melodic black metal that also draws on atmospheric black metal and traditional black metal ideas, with the sound production on the line between black metal's traditional rawness and professional polish. The best track is the title track, but that's just this one writer's opinion, all five are certainly valid choices. Devoid of Light is among the best black metal debuts of the 2010s and Uada certainly deserves to be recognised for having made their mark with it.

adg211288 A new name on the black metal scene is US act Uada and Devoid of Light (2016) is their debut full-length album, as well as their first release together all told. The band feature on vocals and guitars one Jake Superchi, who in the past has also used the monikers The Witcher and Lord Serpent. His name may be familiar due to his involvement in a number of other metal bands prior to Uada, the most notable of which seems to be the symphonic black metal act Ceremonial Castings, who were put on hiatus in 2014, the same year that Uada formed. He's joined by two members from black/thrash metal act Infernus, James Sloan and Trevor Matthews on guitars and drums respectively, with the line-up completed by bassist Mike Beck, who mixed the album with Jake Superchi. Beck has since been replaced by Robb Bockman of speed/power metal act Witches Mark.

Devoid of Light features a short, approximately 34 minute, running time spread across five tracks, a fairly standard practice for black metal albums. What's much less standard about Uada though is how varied a black metal sound they have managed to produce on Devoid of Light. Most bands have a style and stick to it, but that isn't the case here. At times Uada seem like a fairly traditionally styled black metal act, at others they've very melodic, which I'd consider their main focus. Some parts of the album also move into atmospheric black metal territory. Even within the confines of a single composition the band can abruptly change the mood and tone of the piece entirely, a perfect example of which is the album's title track Devoid of Light. Jake Superchi's vocals are also quite varied, ranging from traditional black metal shrieks to some deeper, but still very much black metal rather than death metal, style growls that are prominent, again, on the title track, which to my ears is a mini-masterpiece. Regardless of style his vocals are very well done.

That the band have gone for a decent production that allows their both their melodies and riffs to really stand out helps a lot in making this record as effective as it is. It's not crystal clean either though, so fans of the classic black metal sound need not be too alarmed. I'd say that Uada found a good balance for their material, presenting an album that sounds professional but still has the vibe and atmosphere of a black metal record.

One point I would like to address in this review is the fact that I've seen a lot of comparisons to the Polish black metal act Mgła regarding this release. For all I know they might be more accurate regarding earlier material by Mgła, so what I'm about to say should be taken with that pinch of salt, but compared to their last album Exercises in Futility (2015) I don't find them to be all that valid. The only real thing in common Devoid of Light has with Exercises in Futility is that they are both black metal albums. Such comparisons suggest a clone act to a degree which just isn't true, at least between these two albums. Of course given that Mgła's album is a very highly regarded release such comparisons might draw people to check Uada out (which they deserve to be), but to my ears Devoid of Light is actually the superior release in every way possible. It's more varied in its approach and the individual tracks are able to stand out more because of that, with the real clincher being that this one keeps calling me back to it for another spin whereas I only ever listened to Mgła's album once until revisiting it before doing this review to see if the claims held any merit.

Black metal seems to have been on a real high for the last couple of years, with many interesting and exciting releases coming out. Uada's Devoid of Light quickly proves itself worthy of being counted among the best of these. With its varied and consistently excellent five tracks, this one is going straight into my top ten releases of the year. It's also the best black metal debut of 2016 that I've come across so far, upsetting my previous holder of that title, Sojourner's Empires of Ash.