On the heels of the "In From the Night Herd" EP comes "Cperadt", the latest album from Virginia's Wrnlrd, and the first that's not a self-released endeavor (in fact this is the inaugural release for the new Small Sacrifice label). Visually quite a departure from the other releases bearing the Wrnlrd name (and the black metal genre in general, really) what with its heavy reliance on white space, musically this is actually more of an expected "return to form" for the project after the restrained ambient leanings of "…Night Herd". That's not to insinuate that the band's sole contributor is repeating himself, however, as in fact I'm pleased to point out that while many of the one-man acts in the American scene tend to stagnate or exhibit only minimal improvements from album to album, Wrnlrd's surprisingly prolific output over the last two to three years has yielded quite a striking degree of progression on "Cperadt" - and on every level, too.

The recording, for one, while still noisy and abrasive at times, is crisper and more balanced than past efforts - creating a hint more separation between the elements of the mix and thus allowing more room for the subtle nuances to surface. This means that many of the vocal parts feel more defined, not to mention that the programmed percussion sounds almost shockingly convincing on this go around. Additionally, the clashing dissonance of the riffs feels more controlled - chaotic, of course, but more intentionally refined and maneuvered, so that you can really get a feel for the distinct riffs that are piecing together. This is especially true when eerily melodic clean guitars start to seep into the distance. Still largely improvisational on some level, such structural decisions are certainly less obvious to the listener now, and personally I find that to be a significant step forward for Wrnlrd's delivery. And these are all surprisingly short songs, the vast majority averaging around two to three minutes apiece, so there's definitely a degree of focused ferocity happening within such rapid-fire bursts. There is one unlisted track at the end of the CD (after about a minute of silence) that runs about 10 minutes - the only inclusion not credited to Wrnlrd - so I'm not sure if it's some sort of cryptic cover song or what? Whatever the case, this project is truly reaching the point where its material is more aligned with black metal through texture and atmosphere than anything else. Because now that I think about it, aside from the instances of raw, straightforward speeds, you'll be hard pressed to pick out many riffs or influences at work within this album that could be classified as based around the traditional roots or riffing styles of the genre, and that's a great characteristic to achieve, really. Extremely reasonably priced at $8ppd US, $10ppd WORLD, I certainly hope this outing will start to garner some attention - both for Wrnlrd and Small Sacrifice. Curious work, indeed.

Tracklist:
1. 1590
2. Mnemonomagia
3. Blood
4. Flower
5. Liniment
6. Girdle of Satan's Bond
7. Circle of Soot
8. Cperadt
9. Marauder
10. Bedbur
11. Iudgement
12. Cinders

Running time - 37:04
Year of release - 2007