Valhalla Awaits – Perdition

Written by on 13-04-2024 at 17:39.

An unknown name to me, Valhalla Awaits grew into a pleasant discovery after listening to their new self-released EP Perdition. The five-piece hail from South Wales and do have some links to Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons. Not only did they support them on several occasions, vocalist Andrew Hunt was also did vocals for that band on several occasions.

Speaking of which, the vocals are more than worthy of mention. Hunt has an “easy” voice, if I may call it that: polite, clear, well up front in the mix. And occasionally, due to the combination of music and front plus backing vocals, as a listener you will think that Alice In Chains is whizzing through your ear canals. But that reference does not apply to all five songs on this EP. Valhalla Awaits does not stick to one style. Opener Door of No Return is a more than solid entry. Explosive, hard, a bit thrashy even, fast, pounding, hefty riffing, varied in structure but still with those civilised vocal lines. Very promising!

It doesn’t get any harder than this in the next four songs. Staring At The Gun does have that Alice In Chains feel, sounding quiet in the stanzas but very catchy in the chorus. You know: you can already sing along without ever having heard it (well, at least you think so). With another strong performance from Hunt.

Is There Anybody Out There was released as a single. A bit surprising perhaps because some would categorise this as a “power ballad” (there is also a piano version of it). Understandable, but one with a modern edge because you have that typical, contemporary, somewhat sharp “gritty” guitar sound here while the rest of the song sounds rather dark and semi-grungy. Maybe this is also the moment to talk a little about the lyrics, because they really mean something. And this song, then, is about the struggle that life can sometimes be. But the aforementioned Door Of No Return refers to the transatlantic slave trade of yesteryear.

With We Remain and All Hope Is Lost, you get two more decent songs. None of the songs on this EP can be considered straightforward. They are all layered, heavily arranged and varied. Well, they won’t have been written in two minutes. They have been thought through and the melodic “classic rock” vocals give them more than a touch extra.

Very decent work, this Perdition EP from Valhalla Awaits. I find it hard to put them in one particular box and, as a result, they might risk drowning a bit in the mass of music being released. But fans of high quality heavy rock will happily sit down for this one. A band to keep an eye on anyway based on what they deliver here!

Valhalla Awaits band

Score:

80/100

Label:

Self release, 2024

Tracklisting:

  1. Door of No Return
  2. Staring At The Gun
  3. Is There Anybody Out There?
  4. We Remain
  5. All Hope Is Lost

Line-up:

  • Andrew Hunt – Vocals
  • Chris Green – Guitar, vocals
  • Rhys Carter – Guitar
  • Sam Kilby – Bass
  • Gareth “Snoz” Lawrence – Drums, vocals

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