Runes of the Evening - Indra EP (2012)

Like their Agni EP, Runes of the Evening's Indra takes on a primal Hindu force, in this case the deification of thunder and war, and then interprets its theological subtext into a mesh of melodic death and black metal. Do not expect a recording of sitars and other folk instruments, for this is sheer destruction redolent of Norse and Swedish stormers of the 90s like Dissection, Immortal, Naglfar and so forth. It's admittedly a compelling idea, and I wonder if they'll take it further and cover a host of other divinities. I was pretty surprised when reading up on these Texans, not only for their literary tastes, but also to find out that a few of the band members were previously involved in another Texas band I've covered recently, Psychiatric Regurgitation; though between the two, sounds and subject matter are quite a lot different, apart from both acts having a great deal of musicality.

Of the pair of EPs, I found Indra more to my liking than Agni, if only because I felt the dynamic range here was stronger and the tunes more emotionally resonant and better paced. Though for all I know the songs might have been recorded in conjunction with the others, this seems a measure more progressive in terms of its construction. From the great pianos that herald "The Spiral Descent" to the great warlike cadences in the bridge of "Deities of Our Deities", the compositions were more dramatic, and particular melodic strains were better able to capture my attention. The vocals are still swarthy and grimy black rasps, and the intensity of the drumming is comparable, but even though a few of the songs here are longer than anything on Agni, I found them more durable and more interesting to explore, with a few of the depths of "What Once Was" numbering among the most desperate, atmospherically effective I've yet heard. You've still got a variety of breakdowns, blast beats glazed in floods of harmony, and mid-paced, somber cruising melodies, but in the end they are simply catchier.

The production actually feels a fraction less 'together' than on Agni, but this is probably because the guitars get more room to breathe (essential, since if what I've read is correct, there are actually three of them). Much of the material doesn't feel as condensed. Interestingly, both of the EPs were mastered by death and thrash metal legend James Murphy, but overall I wouldn't sway that either of them were overly cleaned up. The best moments for me were where the mournful streams of melody played against the harsher timbre of the singer/bassist's delivery, and some of the transitions were quite well handled. Though I wouldn't dub it 'unique', Indra also feels mildly fresher than its companion. The writing is pretty close, enough that the two could have been conjoined to a single album, but with the slight differences, it also makes sense that they'd be separated. Beyond the other bands I mentioned, I feel like fans of Finland's Rapture or Katatonia's Brave Murder Day might also dig this, the floes of sad guitars often reminded me of those.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

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Runes of the Evening - Agni EP (2012)

The first of two EPs recently released from Texans Runes of the Evening, Agni takes its name from the Hindu deity (much like its sister recording, Indra) and presents three cuts of searing, melodic black and death metal with a distinctly European flavor from about 10-15 years ago. As usual, I was expecting a little bit of ethnic influence relevant to the concept, so I was thrown off that this was rather straightforward aesthetically and not drowned in Indian folk instruments, but that's not to say that a concept need always reflect its cultural inspiration in the choice of music itself, and for playing a nearly gimmick-less variation on the formula, these gentlemen do not make a bad show of it. Lyrically, also, the band seem heavily inspired by all manner of interesting fiction, theory and Eastern philosophy.

Best way to describe this might be later Immortal (Sons of Northern Darkness) meets Dark Tranquillity, but in truth I heard a whole host of sounds including Enslaved and Dissection. Guitar progressions aren't scripted in the most evil or threatening patterns, but more a flurry of bright, dense chords threaded with choppier runs of almost thrash-like muted sequences for variation. Runes of the Evening includes a lot of warmer, glorious notes, but that's not to say this is at all uplifting or happy, because often the chords crash along with a cold, cutting grandeur that makes you feel like you're staring out across a glacier. Not what I expected upon seeing the cover, of course, but that's just how I felt. The drums are loaded, plenty of double bass and blasting when the action picks up, a few percussive breakdown style beats that keep the tempo from repeating itself ad nauseum, and you can also make out the splashing clamor of the cymbals. Bass lines are kept simple, but the instrument is admittedly pretty loud when you've got this on full crank, and it really stands out against the higher pitch of the guitars.

Vocals are a grimy, petulant rasp that doesn't always distinguish itself much from the music beneath it, but again it's pretty fitting for the style, and they often bulk up the inflection with some deeper, broader growls to keep it from becoming monotonous; and there's plenty of echo to give it resonance over the busier riffs below. They don't skimp on the guitar riffing, and there is variation enough that none of the blasted rhythms or melodies wear out their welcome. As for production, it doesn't sound too heavily polished, the guitars have a nice texture to them and the levels of all instruments could be tweaked on a higher budget, but Agni is still vivacious, loud and clear all around. If the EP suffers from anything, it's that there's just not a whole lot of creativity happening beyond the very idea of this, and even though Runes are decent in most departments, and you won't hear many American bands playing in this niche, this doesn't present much that the seasoned follower of Swedish and Norse black and death metal hasn't already got in spades. Still, if you enjoy stuff like the harder Agalloch, Woods of Ypres or Wolves in the Throne Room tracks, or the Scandinavians I mentioned earlier, it's not a bad listen.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

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