Band:	Vale Of Pnath
Album:	Between The Worlds Of Life And Death
Style:	Symphonic black metal, Technical death metal
Release date:	May 24, 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. The Forgotten Path (Intro)
02. Silent Prayers
03. Soul Offering
04. Shadow
05. Uncertain Tomorrow
06. Beneath Ashen Skies
07. No Return, No Regret
08. Echoes Of The Past (Interlude)
09. Burning Light

To the surprise of probably not that many people, an 8-year gap and almost complete overhaul of the band’s membership since II has had a fairly dramatic impact upon the sound of Vale Of Pnath.

II, which shockingly enough was the second full album from the Coloradan outfit, was unmistakably a technical death metal album; it was a very good one, with progressive songwriting and great melodic guitar work amidst the brutality and virtuosity, but it wasn’t a major curve ball to anyone who had discovered Vale Of Pnath through debut album The Prodigal Empire. Vale Of Pnath’s membership has been somewhat turbulent throughout their existence, however, and the 2019 EP Accursed featured some fresh faces, along with substantial incorporation of symphonic black influences into the group’s existing sonic framework.

Curiously enough, this change in style actually preceded the addition of Ken Sorceron of Abigail Williams to the band, as well as the move from Vale Of Pnath’s bandleader and sole remaining founder Vance Valenzuela to join Abigail Williams in return. With new drummer Gabe Seeber behind the kit of both bands, this new-look iteration of Vale Of Pnath is almost Abigail Williams under another name (only the projects’ bassists distinguish their respective line-ups); however, while Between The Worlds Of Life And Death is certainly a lot closer in sound to the style of Abigail Williams than II was, it would be very reductive to overlook the ways in which Vale Of Pnath retain and build upon their own legacy.

The first question to ask is whether Between The Worlds Of Life And Death is still a tech-death album, and the answer is... somewhat, but in a different way to II. There is still clearly a substantial death metal component to this new album, but rather than the consistently Obscura-style frantic riffing on their previous album, the death metal here is quite frequently of a bludgeoning, blackened death persuasion. While the riffs here clearly exhibit technicality, the jackhammer drumming, hoarse vocals and menacing atmosphere in some passages remind me more of Demigod-era Behemoth. There’s also slower, trudging passages that emphasize groove and/or atmosphere over technicality.

Added to all of that is the symphonic side of the equation. While Between The Worlds Of Life And Death as a whole doesn’t sound like an Abigail Williams album to me, something specifically about the lively piano-style keyboard parts feels like something of a throwback towards the sound of In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns. The other synth parts, as well as the choirs, often serve a more typically ‘symphonic metal’ role of evoking a dramatic atmosphere and working in synergy with the metallic instrumentation; the faux-orchestral arrangements on “Shadow” sync up with the guitar riffs, and their efforts in tandem are very effective. In terms of black metal, most of what I would consider to be ‘blackened’ on this album comes in the way of blackened chord textures in primarily death-oriented passages, but there are occasional snippets where the blasts and savage riffing do veer towards black metal (see the melodic tremolos towards the end of “Beneath Ashen Skies”).

The extent of Vale Of Pnath’s evolution is likely to cause friction for more old-school fans of the band; however, Between The Worlds Of Life And Death arguably has a more unique identity to it than its predecessor, particularly with some of the variety between songs. “Silent Prayers” features some of that Behemoth belligerence, but while “Soul Offering” has its jackhammer moments, the riffing is more serpentine and technical, and the keyboards add both elaborate piano and unexpected electronica synth blasts. “Shadow” goes all in on the symphonics, and has a crawling, grandiose sequence in its second half that offers something very new to what both precedes and follows it.

There’s further novelties and quirks as the album progresses, most obviously the seemingly trap-influenced opening to “Burning Light”, but most of what Vale Of Pnath throw at listeners tends to stick here. “Uncertain Tomorrow” offers a slightly slower, more atmospheric approach (even with multiple spellbinding solos to factor in), but it sits very naturally next to a track that explodes out of the blocks in the way that “Beneath Ashen Skies” does (blasts, choirs, sad guitar harmonies et al). This latter track may be the highlight of Between The Worlds..., due both to the sheer range of influences incorporated, and also how well the different ideas all land. The lead guitar work on the album is typically on the more melodic side, but “No Return, No Regret” offers a more twisted vision with its chaotic, menacing soloing.

Between The Worlds Of Life And Death is a really bold return for Vale Of Pnath; it unshackles itself from much of the band’s history, and while the end result won’t go down well with everyone, I find it to be a rather successful evolution. It leaves me somewhat curious to hear not only where the band go next, but how their work as part of this project may rub off on the evolution of the chameleonic Abigail Williams on their own overdue next album.