UMUR
"VioLution" is the 3rd full-lengh studio album by Norwegian black/death metal act V:28. The album was released through Vendlus Records in September 2007. It´s the successor to "SoulSaviour" from 2005 and features the same lineup as the predecessor: Kristoffer Oustad (guitars, programming), Eddie Risdal (rhythm guitars, vocals), and Atle Johansen (bass).
Stylistically the band continues the industrial tinged black/death metal style of the first two albums. They´ve grown as composers though and "VioLution" is generally more varied and more adventurous than the preceding releases. The atmosphere is pitch black and the lyrics laden with post-war/apocalyptic nightmare visions. The tracks are predominantly slow-to mid-paced, but there are faster parts featured on the album too. In addition to guitars and bass, the music features programmed drums and atmospheric synth effects/samples. The vocals are mostly raspy black metal style vocals, but there are clean vocals on "The Absolute", performed by Ulver´s Kristoffer Rygg. The clean vocals add more of a melancholic/depressive atmosphere to the music than a sense of "light at the end of the tunnel" (which clean vocals sometime add to extreme music). So this is overall very bleak music.
The material is well performed and the album is well produced too, and the band succeed in bringing an atmosphere of impending doom to the listener. There is great conviction behind the delivery and the programmed drums work well within the band´s sound. So upon conclusion "VioLution" is a high quality release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.