Uada need little introduction to those that keenly follow all the vast, wild permutations of black metal. But for those unaware, Uada are a melodic black metal band hailing from Portland, Oregon, USA. When touring the band perform as a four piece, but the vast majority of the writing, composition and recording are still the responsibility of founding duo Jake Superchi (vocals, guitars) and James Sloan (guitars). The bass playing is deft throughout Djinn and comes courtesy of one bassist leaving the band and his replacement – Josiah Babcock and Nate Verschoor, respectively.
The band’s growing status has been meteoric. Formed in 2014, it was only two years later that they released their debut album, Devoid of Light. Word of mouth made that album a much buzzed about LP in the black metal global community. The underground had noticed. Uada were doing something different with melodic black metal – they had found a USP that few of their fellow American black metal brethren had. This was confirmed by the show-stopping release of sophomore effort Cult of a Dying Sun in 2018. Uada had truly landed.
So, here we find ourselves another two years on, with Uada gracing us with their third album, Djinn. I, like many, have been anticipating their new opus with bated breath. Was this album going to be a surprising stumbling block following such a stunning dodge of the dreaded ‘second album’ curse? Or, would Djinn be an extremely solid release, cementing Uada as a favourite to many, but keeping them at the same level as they had been post Cult of a Dying Sun? Or, would this third LP supersede their previous discography, make good on all the promise and the momentum they had built up, and take their sound onto a wider audience?
Survey says… Definitely #3.
Djinn is a stunning piece of work – a luminous, effervescent, sparkling display of what is possible in melodic black metal; what is possible when one has the ability and vision to warp a genre to your own whim.
The album, albeit inventive within the six tracks on offer (and a runtime of over an hour), follows an astute structure that means the flow of the record is pitch perfect. By and large it goes; long track, slightly shorter track, epic long track, and then repeats that feat once more. The first listen of the LP is a treat unto itself, but it’s in the re-listening that one finds that structure comforting, with one allowing the peaks and troughs of not only the dynamics of the music, but the structure of Djinn to carry one off into the stars.
Uada’s new full-length opens with the title track ‘Djinn’, which immediately surprises. Bursting out of the speakers with a riff more at place in post-punk, and a bass tone that is good enough to eat, the track soon finds itself dancing among tremolo picked guitar passages before Jake’s vicious vocals spit out into the void and we finally feel we’re truly in a Uada record.
Right from the beginning, it feels the band are drawing a line in the sand. The past was then. Djinn, their future, is now. The record sounds downright epic right from the get-go. This is music that deserves to be played outdoors in the middle of nowhere under a blanket of stars, a sky reminiscent of the cover of this wondrous album. Later on in the opening track we are also reminded of the duo’s penchant for leaning into classic heavy metal, too. This is certainly a feature throughout the record, with the influence being the most prevalent across all three of Uada’s catalogue yet. With that comes cleaner production and although I’d normally wince at that move, when a record sounds so amazing as this, I’m all for it. ‘Djinn’ ends with an absolutely huge riff and you already know you’re in for a real experience for the rest of the LP.
‘The Great Mirage’ is the shortest song on the record at seven minutes long, yet still manages to be a wonder, shifting back and forth between slow paced vocals and gorgeous guitars ringing out, before transitioning into frantic riffing that dizzies the listener, before finally unleashing some mind-boggling soloing. Uada seem to seamlessly meld the almost retro heavy metal flourishes with contemporary black metal, put all under a melodic pall, and still throw in more fireworks whenever possible. If I ever thought there was anything weak in the arsenal of Uada it may have been how the vocals had been captured during recording, but this has been utterly perfected on Djinn – with solemn spoken work, dreamy semi-sung passages and the varying screams all sounding both otherworldly and heaven sent. The vocals are an asset to the record throughout its entire hour.
We are then offered the first of the epic tracks (both being around fourteen minutes in length). This song – ‘No Place Here’ – is jaw-dropping. The guitars are simply stunning, and somehow sound, for me, like if Khemmis decided to play Wolves in the Throne Room with a few flourishes of their own. The balance here between some old school black metal venom, replete with aesthetics akin to the genre, with a melodic execution that will surely entice legions of fans usually allergic to black metal, is quite simply genius. Fans of bands such as Mastodon and Baroness who won’t touch the genre, may surely be enticed by songs such as ‘No Place Here’. The final few minutes of the track transitions to a sample, presumably from an old film, before we are then presented with a long, thought-provoking spoken word passage, while the guitars swerve and cycle around them. It’s a powerful moment, giving the listener a lot to chew on, while also providing respite from the onslaught, a momentary (dark) oasis at the midpoint of the record.
‘In the Absence of Matter’ shatters that mirage with a pummelling opening, thrusting the album forward once more, changing the dynamic with haunting vocals casting a spell of darkness back upon the record and its listener. Despite its twists and turns, the track always feels as if its building to some great, furious close. This comes in a fearsome blaze before the song takes a minute or so of fracturing guitars and fading beats, to recover properly from the intricate beauty and unsettling sounds the track had to offer.
‘Forestless’ feels like an outlier on the album, with an even greater melodicism to the guitars that sees them firmly veer into heavy post-rock territory. The track sounds utterly sumptuous and then Uada cleverly juxtapose this with some of the heaviest vocals on the entire record and a central riff that roots the song firmly back into black metal territory. It is this lightness of touch, this inventiveness of composition and transition, that marks Uada out as extraordinary. Djinn is so, so exciting and pleasurable to listen to. The musicianship is second to none. The passages in each track are stunning – but perhaps aren’t the most mind-blowing in terms of innovation. But was is, without question, innovative and shocking in how well its executed are those little aforementioned jumps from genre to genre, style to style, technical nod to creative explosion. It’s all so seamless that none of Uada’s tracks ever feels like they are ideas stitched together, but rather one cohesive new whole, with no simple name to describe it, despite quite obviously being – overall – melodic black metal. Quite the feat.
Which leads us on to album closer ‘Between Two Worlds’, which, unsurprisingly the massive epic one would expect to finish an album such as Djinn. Maybe here we have Emperor deciding to write a track that not only pays homage to Iron Maiden, but downright worships them. It sounds huge from its opening seconds and never let goes during its entire length. Absolute madness for its first half and then that pivot in its midsection is quite something to behold. Masterful. I won’t ruin the track for others, but it has so much detail packed into it as to beg belief. What a way to close an album.
Uada have been a band that have been talked about a great deal in recent years and were we sans pandemic, I think Djinn would have been an album that would be riding a hell of a lot more buzz that perhaps it has enjoyed thus far. However, brilliant music will always win out eventually, as Uada have already proved with their debut LP. Brought out to little fanfare, it was soon being hotly discussed and was still being cited a good year following its initial release. Djinn isn’t starting from that point, and although it’s perhaps not the best time for any album release, it will most certainly be a record that will be discussed in the weeks and months to come. Uada have outdone themselves here. Take note, with this album they will most certainly level up. We bow before them and the djinns of old.
