Vulpus - Vulpus Review

When one hears the words 'black metal,' what is the country or continent you think of?  Usually northern Europe in countries like Norway, Finland, and Sweden.  Rarely do you think of Portugal, but one band is certainly trying to change that.  Vulpus, formed in 2013, is an atmospheric black metal band that has just recently released their first self titled demo but have already made quite an impact on their countries metal scene.  Consisting of only 3 extremely diverse songs, Vulpus pulls out all the stops with their first material and really shows the flexibility of the band and the genre as a whole.

With only 3 songs to prove what Vulpus is made of, they really put a lot of time and effort into their material for the demo.  Every song has a different sound, a different feel, giving the impression that they are still looking for their sound.  That definitely isn't a bad thing, because Vulpus is quite talented.  The drumming on all three tracks are very well done.  The sound quality is quite good for a demo and you can hear every piece of the kit shimmer through the mix clearly.  The one thing I noticed though was the kick sounded a bit 'dead.'  The sound was very muted and shallow, failing to give off that big boom that a kick drum should sound like.  Obviously, that is not the band's fault and it doesn't affect the quality of the playing whatsoever.  The guitarist is excellent at writing diverse riffs, both distorted and clean.  His clean tones are quite calming and remind me of Agalloch's cleaner passages.  Once the distortion hits, the low end of the sound drops away a bit and you're left with a classic black metal tone.  I think Vulpus would benefit from bringing on board a second guitarist.  While yes, in the studio you can always record a second guitar part and it sounds just as good, no two guitarists ever sound alike with their tone and playing style.  Adding someone else into the music would give it a bit of a push forward, broadening their sound.  The vocals are excellent and very consistent.   On each track, they roar through and really give the music a nice kick.  They are always at the front of the music, leading the track along.
One thing that I usually don't mention in reviews that I want to in this one is the artwork.  It looks like it could depict a violent storm with the ocean waves crashing together or a snowy mountain scene.  Whatever your mind makes it out to me, it is quite gorgeous.

Vulpus was able to prove a lot on their first demo.  Spanning just a mere 15 minutes, they were able to show that they can stretch the boundaries a bit and still dominate.  While I do think they are still working to find their own sound, the debut demo does get them off to a very good start and it is worth checking them out.

8/10

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