Wrnlrd drops a dense black metal album on listeners with this limited LP and digital album, Oneiromantical War - which I believe is the sixth album from the outfit. Now, in my growing education in black metal, this is my introduction to Wrnlrd, and it certainly provides me intrigue as the record mastering is the work of Bob Weston of Shellac fame. Normally, in my admittedly limited experience with the genre, black metal groups usually go for extremely lo-fi production; this mastering choice may provide different results for Wrnlrd on this album.
Oneiromantical War is an intriguing listen with quite a bit of divergence from what black metal exposure that I have, and in truth, it is a welcome divergence because the stringent adherence to the style wears on my ears sometimes. This album does contain some excellent atmospheric sounds in tracks like "Nighthole" and "Haxanic Stairway" (the acoustic guitar in this song combining with the softly spoken vocals and whispers makes for a nice effect), and these fit well amongst the guitars that cut through the din like some desperate and determined knife fighter. "Breath of Doors" shows an incorporation of droning guitars that is a bit of a surprise, while the noise level of "Silent Command" recalls groups like Wolf Eyes. The closer, "War," seems to combine many of the elements of other songs on the album to create a good amalgamation of sound and is an excellent composition; near the nine minute mark where everything gets quiet save for the off and on pounding of drums and guitars is a nice touch.
The fact of the matter is that even though Oneiromantical War sounds better than some lo-fi recordings it still sounds more lo-fi than some boom box recordings of band practices that I have heard in the past (it sounds like these recordings were lifted from a record, complete with the between track fuzz). Wrnlrd is one of the better outfits that ply this genre that I have been able to hear so far. The music has a decent amount of variation and is consistently interesting from one track to the next and finally culminates at a peak of an ending track. Wrnlrd's Oneiromantical War is one record that I will definitely listen to again as well as be on the lookout for future records.
