Review: Valdrin – Apex Violator

Style: Black metal, melodic black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Dissection
Country: Ohio, United States
Release date: 20 June 2025

As a ten-year old kid, I first discovered The Hobbit in my elementary school library. Its charm, characters, call to adventure, and perhaps above all, its meticulously crafted fictional world drew me in like no story ever has—at least in the literary realm. That initial enchantment naturally led to The Lord of the Rings, just in time for Peter Jackson’s films to hit theaters as I was finishing the books. I’ve returned to Tolkien’s saga many times since, and still revisit it now and then. As often happens, a love of Middle-earth opened the door to other high (and low) fantasy realms. Does your book have a map of a fictional world in the opening pages? Then I’ll probably check it out at some point.

Pair the allure of fantasy with my innate love of metal, and it’s no surprise that artists like Blind Guardian and Summoning quickly became favorites—bands whose music is conjured for a Tolkien-bred imagination. A few years ago, I was able to add another group to that cabal: Valdrin. But, unlike those who reinterpret familiar stories or put music to an existing lore, Valdrin have created a mythos all their own—a literary world inscribed upon black metal scrolls. I would be doing their work a disservice trying to summarize the hero’s journey of the titular character and his struggle with the malevolent Nex Animus, but suffice it to say: spiritual warfare, collapsing worlds, and existential dread are just the beginning.

Valdrin’s newest chapter, Apex Violator, continues their long-running saga of mythic chaos with a relentless, oppressive energy. While their previous album, Throne of the Lunar Soul, explored moments of triumph and sorrow amidst celestial fallout, Apex Violator is all sinister fury—a bit melodic, a tad fantastical, but pure scraping black metal cloaked in eldritch atmosphere. Scathing riffs wrapped in dissonant arpeggiation (“Ignite the Murder Shrine,” “The Muttering Derelict”), blistering percussion (“Poison Soul Vents”), and demonic, blood-curdling howls (“Veins of Akasha”) make up the bulk of this EP. We’re forgoing variety in favor of overwhelming force, here.

That dark force is made all the more sinister by various synths, keyboards, and choral chants throughout Apex Violator, lending a bit of flavor to the black metal cacophony. These elements are rarely the primary focus—they instead haunt the soundscape and lend an ominous sense to the EP. A standout in this regard is “Black Imperial Smoke,” whose macabre vocal chants can be nothing but cursed hymns echoing from the halls of a shadowy ruin. Additionally, the bridge in “Poison Soul Vents” has been stuck in my head for the past week, in no small part due to the deep, thrumming piano underneath the ominous guitar riff.

Still, I miss the sadness and grandeur that Throne of the Lunar Soul sprinkled around. Apex Violator is fairly one-note by comparison—little if any acoustic pensiveness, triumphant melody, or interludes for a breather to form those peaks and valleys that help create a truly standout album for me. This EP being a chapter dedicated to Nex Animus, I can understand why the atmosphere of the album is pure evil. I can’t help but wonder what pairing it with an emotionally unraveling latter half might do to elevate it, though.

As a standalone listen, Apex Violator may blur together a little, with little in the way of audible contrast. Yet, fans of the dark majesty of Emperor or the seething, melodic dissonance of Dissection will find much to admire here. Valdrin channels the phantasm of those black metal titans through the lens of their grim cosmology—and for the initiated, the fury of Apex Violator is another book of scripture. Map or not.

Recommended tracks: Black Imperial Smoke, Ignite the Murder Shrine
You may also like: Stormkeep, Caladan Brood, Gallowbraid
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives

Label: Avantgarde Music – Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Metal-Archives

Valdrin is:
– Colton Deem (guitars)
– Carter Hicks (vocals, guitars, keyboards)
– James Lewis (bass)
– Ryan Maurmeier (drums)