{"id":86829,"date":"2019-07-18T16:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T15:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=86829"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:26:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:26:09","slug":"review-valis-ablaze-render","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-valis-ablaze-render\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Valis Ablaze &#8211; Render"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-86849\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor-100x100.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor-465x465.jpeg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor-500x500.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor-600x600.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Valis-Ablaze-Render-compressor.jpeg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>It\u2019s clear that <b>Valis Ablaze<\/b> know how competitive the tech-metal world is, and so their decision to strike while the iron is hot makes sense. Their debut <i>\u2019Boundless\u2019<\/i> only came out last year, after all, and while a rapid follow-up could be indicative of fertile creative grounds, it could just as easily point towards a band rushing forward to give themselves an artificial and fleeting leg up.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, <i>\u2019Render\u2019<\/i> does seem to be closer to the former; <b>Valis Ablaze<\/b> do have talent, after all, and it\u2019s being put to good use here. That said, <i>\u2019Render\u2019<\/i> does end up feeling like more of the same overall, not advancing within the tech-metal realms and preferring to stay in the spacious, melodic ground that\u2019s a good fit, but has been done a whole lot with little variation. There\u2019s certainly an excellent command of that melody in tracks like <i>\u2019Hollow Heart\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2019Saturation\u2019<\/i>, but <b>Valis Ablaze<\/b> simply playing to their strengths has less of a thrill behind it than some real experimentation.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Valis Ablaze - Hollow Heart (Official Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/72pXQoLXapE?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But with that being said, the sonic clarity and expansive tableaux of guitars really do sound good, and Phil Owen has the pop focus in his vocals that give bands such as Periphery such a distinctive edge. <b>Valis Ablaze<\/b> aren\u2019t quite at that level, but the swirling tumult of <i>\u2019Keyframes\u2019<\/i> and the metallic heft of <i>\u2019Elevation\u2019<\/i> make good use of that versatility that connects in a big way. It mightn\u2019t be all that inventive overall, but as an unshakeably solid example of pretty much everything great about tech-metal, <i>\u2019Render\u2019<\/i> really works.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s why it feels like <b>Valis Ablaze<\/b> are still doing good work here. This is by no means a landmark album in the genre, but they\u2019re a band who knows what they\u2019re good at and sticks to it. It means that <i>\u2019Render\u2019<\/i> isn\u2019t as amazing as it could be, but it\u2019s definitely worth a few spins nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Render&#8217;<\/i> by <b>Valis Ablaze<\/b> is released on 19th July on <b>Long Branch Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Valis Ablaze<\/b> links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.valisablaze.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/valisablaze\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Valis_Ablaze\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/valis_ablaze\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/valisablaze.bandcamp.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Luke Nuttall (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nuttall_luke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@nuttall_luke<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;an unshakeably solid example of pretty much everything great about tech-metal&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":86849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,1138,15029,17350,4773],"class_list":["post-86829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-long-branch-records","tag-luke-nuttall","tag-render","tag-valis-ablaze"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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