Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Uada today is one the brightest new stars on the expanse that is melodic black metal. ‘Djinn’ is their third album after the relatively short debut ‘Devoid of Light’ and the sophomore ‘Cult of a Dying Sun’. Their previous efforts were often likened to Sweden’s mighty master of misanthropic melody Dissection and another newcomer on the black metal front, the Polish horde of Mgła.

While these comparisons are still valid in a way on their third album, this is really only on the most superficial level. This is epic black metal with a heavy penchant for melody after all, but you could claim this then for every band in this style that does not swathe its sound in keyboards the Dimmu Borgir way.

‘Djinn’ is clearly its own genie. From the very moment the supernatural creature gets summoned, the opening title track envelops you in a sleek, vibrant mist of melody. This is definitely not the kind of murky, foul black metal where you already need a tetanus shot for merely holding the sleeve.
No, these are extremely well produced extreme metal songs that are just brimming with so much melodic riffs, parts of them could even stand comfortably next to a Merciful Fate record if you know what I mean.
Hooks and catchy riffs alone, however, are not going to cut it, not if you’re going to fill an hour worth of music with just 6 songs.

To do that effectively, you actually need to have songs. Songs that can harness the epic storytelling you want to encapsulate within. ‘Djinn’ does that. In that hour it takes you on a magic carpet ride across vast Agalloch-esque stretches of land, straight through the looking glass which Uada holds up against today’s hypocritical society.

Release Date: September 25 2020
Label: Eisenwald
Tracklist:

1. Djinn
2. The Great Mirage
3. No Place Here
4. In the Absence of Matter
5. Forestless
6. Between Two Worlds