1. Ordinary Hell ValkusValkiria Vocals, All instruments Faily voice on "magic Water" and "The Temporizer" Recording information: Recorded, mixed and mastered at Valkiria Studio. The album presents itself as one of Valkiria’s most introspective and symbolic works, conceived entirely by Valkus, who performs all instruments and vocals. Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Valkiria Studio, the record embodies a fully personal vision—musically, lyrically, and spiritually. Valkus has described the album as an initiatory concept, where darkness is not an end but a necessary passage: the gate through which transformation, illumination, and rebirth become possible. This philosophical axis shapes the entire narrative arc of the tracklist, guiding the listener through conflict, dissolution, and eventual transcendence. Musically, the album blends atmospheric metal, gothic elements, and cinematic textures, maintaining Valkiria’s signature balance between melancholy and grandeur. The compositions shift from aggressive, tension‑driven passages to ethereal, reflective moments, mirroring the inner journey the concept represents. Tracks like “Kill the Nothing”—which also received an official video—stand out for their dramatic structure and emotional intensity, while “Death Is Now II” serves as a direct continuation of the original “Death Is Now” from the 2006 Blood on Blood album, expanding its themes of mortality and transformation. The presence of a fairy‑like female voice on “Magic Water” and “The Temporizer” adds a luminous counterpoint to the album’s darker textures, reinforcing the conceptual movement from shadow toward revelation. Throughout the record, Valkus constructs a soundscape where despair and hope coexist, each necessary to the other, forming a ritualistic cycle of descent and ascent. The album’s sequencing is deliberate: from the opening tension of “Ordinary Hell” to the cathartic clarity of “Magic Water”, the listener is led through stages of struggle, introspection, confrontation, and renewal. The result is a cohesive, immersive work that stands as one of Valkiria’s most thematically unified releases—an exploration of the human condition through the lens of esoteric symbolism and emotional depth. |
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No Darkness No Light Masterland.com review
Quite fresh, last year, album of gothic metal VALKIRIA. The Italian ValkusValkiria, in fact, practically does everything in this project himself. But there is a guest vocalist, Faily, who sang on two tracks.
VALKIRIA's music is very rich, but sound produced carefully, without any discounts. The result is a magnificent stucco molding of melodic epic and gothic metal. In addition, the author himself sings - and he quite successfully manages to realize his skills, in pure - goth-style, for example, perfectly well.
The publishing label focused attention on the tags #Gothic, #Black, #Doom, but this rather has to do with the work of VALKIRIA in general. In general, Valkus launched the project back in the last century. And a lot has passed through the crucible of his creativity, put down its deep roots, from which, at the right time, these or those substances grow. Gothic is unambiguous, epic is perfect, so doom sometimes breaks through, both in vocal accompaniment and in slow parts.
Valkus is a gorgeous melodist who, not only has developed a detailed roadmap for each track, but also painted in it many of his ideas based on the great European heritage - folk and classical music. Not to mention the fact that he withstood his creation over the poisonous sources of strong emotional experiences ... and this will make itself felt ...
Basically, the work goes in a majestic mid-tempo, but the author speeds up in places and turns on the hammering hammers of the drams. And then suddenly it will slow down, literally pulling the veins out of the listener - but not for long, because torture topics are not tariffed here.
I will definitely say about the guest vocalist Fayly. She sings on the tracks The Temporizer and Magic Water. If you still need to look for her in the first track, then in the second - the final track - her charming singing gives a special effect of an extreme piece, the continuation of which you will wait. Moreover, here the vocal twists and turns are twisted in earnest. However, in The Temporizer, the author deliberately tightens up in the framework of gothic metal to serious values, as if recalling the hooligan black doom past)).
Recommendations. Try Wind of Glory. Although here, frankly speaking, you are tortured to highlight something, literally every song with an internal tab - a bomb that minerals do not need to look for, it itself will puff with all the melodic force.
But still Wind of Glory - 7 and a half minutes. The keyboard rushing gloomy beginning, grows before our eyes literally into a gothic mid-tempo vocal tunnel, guitar lines - like high-voltage cables from the right, then to the left, and here ... the string openwork of the solo part, supported by a powerful rhythm section - unexpectedly - like volcano Vesuvius. Yes, this is the longest compo on the album, so here the author demonstrates his personal musical and architectural preferences. The goth vocals emphasize the composer's dark metal pose.
A very smooth and beautiful album, literally pulling the listener into their personal abyss of