You can use a lot of adjectives to describe the boistorous, chromatic, experimental black metal of Victory Over the Sun. We've already used plenty in the past to discuss the project and here I am using a few more. But one adjective which you can't use is "accessible" and that's a damn good thing. Vivian Tylinska, the heart and brains behind the project, is always very clear through her music about her passion for pushing music forward, regardless of whether that makes it more palatable or not. As she ramps up for the release of her new album, Dance You Monster To My Soft Song! (due for release on May 26th which is, incidentally, also my birthday), it is apparent that this has not changed. "Madeline Becoming Judy", the single which we are incredibly proud to premiere here today, is one of the richest, most evocative tracks of Victory Over the Sun's career, passionately dedicated to keeping the project's sound moving forward. Scroll down below to check it out!
What to say? The track, a sprawling affair that runs just under eleven minutes, perhaps starts regularly enough. Black metal tremolo riffs and abrasive vocals rule the first few minutes of it, though even here things are not as they seem; if you pay attention to "background" of the track, and especially the off-kilter bass, you'll hear all sorts of odd things being done to the composition's structure. Around the three minute mark, this weirdness blasts into the forefront, with the track's structure collapsing into the triumphant and staccato trappings that were bubbling in its underbelly. These are accompanied by absolutely gorgeous synths that really channel the triumphant timbre of the track's title; they sing of explosive transformation and uncontainable energy.
Elsewhere, these synths are allowed their moment in the sun (sorry) in stark silences between segments, before the guitars return to usher in the track's final passage. Everything coalesces into one of the most magnificently triumphant and grandiose passages we've seen from the project so far, an intensely moving and fitting close to this track. All of these energies are also excellently rendered by friend of the blog Aki McCullough (A Constant Knowledge of Death, Dreamwell, Nu House Studios) who mixed and mastered the album as well as contributed violin and additional guitars to the release.
What joy! What passion! What dedication to the craft. Victory Over the Sun remains one of our favorite projects working in the lurid, exciting, and often lethargic spaces of black metal, injecting them with much needed perspective and verve. Onwards! Until Sol is defeated. Make sure you head on over to the project's Bandcamp to pre-order this album and assist in the divine fight.
P.S the album also features cover art by one of my favorite contemporary artists, Helvetica Blanc. Make sure you also check out their work.