White Ward – False Light (Review)

False Light is the third album by Ukrainian Post-Black Metal outfit White Ward. After last year’s EP Debemur Morti False Light marks the debut album for their new label home Debemur Morti Productions.

“Leviathan” was the first single released prior to this album and White Ward continue to walk on the path they took on Debemur Morti. The trademark saxophone is of course still present and is given even more time to shine on this album. Those parts are put on podests within the songs (sounds odd, but you will hear what I mean).

Clean vocals are also present in nearly every song of False Light. I really enjoyed them on Debemur Morti and White Ward continue to weave them in to their Post-Black Metal seamlessly. Those parts don’t feel odd or tacked on to please a wider audience, they are an important part to the whole picture. Songs like the aforementioned “Leviathan“, the second single “Cronus” or the epic album closer “False Light” are elevated by those great guest spots.

“Cronus” is the biggest departure from the “classic” Post-Black Metal sound. The song is a mixture of a Goth Rock song with Black Metal blast-beats and vocal delivery between the crooning. In general the songs take a lot of turns and twists and shifts. The duo of “Phoenix” and “Silence Circles” will leave you pounding fists, gazing at the sky and raging in your room several times across the span of 20 minutes.

False Light is the new climax in the discography of White Ward. They never sounded better and the songs on this album are a culmination of everything what this band makes special for me. This here is a high “album of the year” contender.