«Walpurgisnacht» came out in 1995 through Unisound, three years after the split «Black Arts Lead to Everlasting Sins» with Necromantia. It was Varathron’s second full-length and it arrived at a time when the line-up had changed: the band had been rebuilt by Necroabyssious together with Pyrphoros of Kawir, with Adrastos on keyboards.
“`Country: Greece
Style: Black Metal
For fans of: Rotting Christ, Necromantia, Kawir
The album keeps a darker and slower style than the debut, with the keyboards playing a bigger role in shaping the atmosphere. From «Tleilaxu (The Unborn Child)» and «Cassiopeia’s Ode» to «Under the Sight of Horus» and «Sic Transit Gloria Mundi», the sound stays melodic but heavier, with Necroabyssious’s voice at the centre.
It is an album that the band’s fans often single out as one of the strongest points of their discography. It was reissued in remastered form, together with a live performance of «Birthrise of the Graven Image» from a show in the Netherlands in 2018.
Together with the demos of the early 1990s and the debut, «Walpurgisnacht» forms the core of Varathron’s first, more cult period.
The album’s sound also shows the band’s connection with Kawir, since Pyrphoros had been through there before joining Varathron. Adrastos’s keyboards give several tracks an epic, almost ritual tone, and they are what sets «Walpurgisnacht» apart from the debut.
«Walpurgisnacht» sounds slower and heavier than the debut, with the tracks leaving room for atmosphere and less for speed. It is a record that asks for patience from the listener and rewards them in the way it builds each track.
Our take
It is the album that showed Varathron were not a flash in the pan after the debut. It keeps the band’s melodic core and adds a darker, more epic depth that became their trademark.
See also
Rotting Christ – Non Serviam · Varathron – The Crimson Temple.
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