V▲LH▲LL - Thε Shεpε of Hugin

A lot of people may be turned off by Witch House music just from the get go, for the artists tend to have their names not necessarily contain letters, but shapes and other such accessories that are otherwise unneeded. However, once you sit down and listen to the music, you just can't help but be swept away in ritualistic styled sounds and beats that make you think you're in the middle of a medieval Celtic ceremony. And, well, quite simply, V▲LH▲LL has got the genre down very, very well. And, I don't listen to their music often, but each time I find time to, I am blown away by what they deliver.

And, this time, I am given the EP release of THε SHεPε OF HUGIN EP, which was released after M‡яc▲ll▲'s MΛLLEVS MΛLΞFIC▲RVM, where the original song of the EP was taken from. Now, this EP is a remix album from start to beginning, and has seven different versions of the song, with one new song titled VÆGSKÆL (feat. Ghost Dust). But, you know, while I normally complain about remix albums, I really can't do much bitching when it comes to this album at all.

I would think that after listening to the same song remixed seven different times, I would bore out of it and want to stop listening to it, but each artist that contributed to this album did a fantastic job with it. The Dying Embers Edit version of the song was the first featured on the album, and once i was done listening to it, I just knew it was going to be a great album. It captured my attention with it's bells and dark and echoing vocals. It was enchanting.

And, from there, we are treated to just a beautiful album. A fantastically notable remix on the album with be that from ∆aimon. There's an extremely nice echo effect placed on the vocals, and the rain mixed with the harder electronic beats creates a really good song.

I was not a huge fan of the Gheists remix of the song. I feel as if taking out all the bass that served as a major foundation for the song was a mistake. The little chimes that go through the song is a pretty neat effect, and the vocals still remain to be fantastic, but I still feel as if this mix was just a bit too stripped down.

As far as the only non remix on the album, which would be VÆGSKÆL (feat. Ghost Dust), it was definitely a lot calmer than most of the other songs on the album, It mainly served as an instrumental with ghostly humming ringing throughout the song. While I thought that some of the remixes were better than this, I still found it to my liking, and had to listen to it twice before moving on.

And, so, with that said, I'd say we have a pretty damn good remix album. The remixes move and make it sound as if each song isn't really a remix, but a different song entirely. It's a gorgeous album, and now that I've listened to this, I think I'm going to go listen to some more V▲LH▲LL to spruce up my morning. Dec 05 2013