Review of Virvum - "Illuminance"

BELIEVE THE SCUTTLEBUTT

By: Geoff Teach

Like a shooting star screams out of the cosmos, the buzz surrounding Illuminance – the forthcoming full-length from Zurich, Switzerland’s tech-death sensation Virvum – has come on suddenly and swiftly. Making the underground rounds via the vast reach of the internet, the pre-released singles from this independent effort have already received tens of thousands of views on YouTube; and with countless members of the industry and other metal acts constantly sharing their videos on Facebook and Twitter, the scuttlebutt surrounding this emergent Swiss quartet should only continue to grow, both before and after Illuminance’s release.

Containing eight stellar compositions, Virvum’s Illuminance is a cunningly crafted album full of rich, lush production and brutally maniacal death metal of the technical vein. Sounding similar to a high-speed, three-way collision between The Faceless, Fallujah, and Beyond Creation, Virvum’s boundless talents are laid bare for all to devour and delight in by the incredible engineering talents of Christoph Brandes at Germany’s Iguana Studios; and the music itself is turbulent, torrid, and absolutely entrancing.

For me, the finest selections from Illuminance include the eerie and fascinating “Earthwork”, the lengthy and transcendent title-track “Illuminance”, the gorgeously brutal “Ad Rigorem”, and the over ten-minute brilliance of the closer, “II A Final Warming Shine: Ascension and Trespassing”; but when taken in as a whole (including the album’s fittingly pulchritudinous artwork), Illuminance’s sum is truly greater than its parts.

Virvum’s Illuminance is definitely one of 2016’s most exceptional releases to date, and I strongly advise you to order this magnum opus with all speed and haste. Pre-order packages are currently available on the band’s Bandcamp page, so don’t delay and help support your friendly, international tech-death independents today!

To experience the nine-minute magnificence of the title-track “Illuminance”, just press play below!