Ovnev is the name of one of the many good one man bands that arise in the United States with the intent to propose black metal, mostly atmospheric traits. So, if it is legitimate not to expect something innovative, it is equally plausible to approach with a certain confidence about the outcome of this debut work. Cycle Of Survival is, in fact, an album that unravels with great fluidity going to lap the different facets of black, while never pushing on the more traditional side; after all, from someone who as a manifesto exhibits a cover with snow-capped mountains you can only expect an austere expression, solemn and melodic at the same time, with more than one natural reference to the Cascadian current of the genre. At these junctures we are far from crystal clear productions and especially the lead guitar passages, fundamental in the economy of the album, are cracked by some executive limits that the goodness of the writing and their evocative potential can not hide. Precisely for this reason the album does not reach the excellence and it’s a pity, because the interpretation of the genre is genuine and full of ideas that are anything but trivial, however, who is looking for, regardless, a certain purity in the approach to the subject give a listen to a track like The Observatory, which effectively represents the contents of an interesting work but definitely perfectible in its formal aspects.

2016 – Naturmacht Productions