Cast your mind back to the heat of June 2023. You probably won’t recall where you were the day that South Wales premier Black Metal outfit Ofnus released their debut album, Time Held Me Grey And Dying. An album that brought several years of planning, blood, sweat and tears to fruition for founder member and driving force Alyn Hunter. The guitarist is an intensely focused individual, and when Time Held Me Grey And Dying dropped, he was already planning the route for Valediction.
Ofnus – Valediction (Naturmacht Productions)
Release Date: 28 February 2025
Words: Paul Hutchings
In the past 18 months, every conversation with Alyn Hunter has been dominated by thoughts about this album. He was rightly proud of the debut release, but the creative demons that burn the fires deep within demanded more.
By late 2023, Valediction was written, and the desire to hit the studio to record it was great.
For a band that revel in misery, there is something quite joyous and celebratory about this second release. The songs are generally longer, providing the band with more scope to expand their extreme delivery.
Musically, they are, perhaps unsurprisingly, improved. The drumming of Ethan Reed Spargo has intensified, his timing spot on and delivery machine-like in its power and relentless battery. The opening salvo on The Shattering is just the introduction to an overall performance of epic proportions.
The guitars are dense with a formidable blanket of shimmering riffs that are Tsunami-like in intensity, all the time allowing clean solos to burst forth with great clarity. And yet, underneath this intensely powerful battery, moments of delicate calm appear, often somewhat fleeting, but providing that tranquil haven necessary to allow the listener to catch their breath at what they have heard.
And then there’s the vocals of William Philpott. Perhaps the most improved thing on the whole album. Listen to Time Held Me Grey And Dying and then Valediction, and you could be convinced that these are two different singers. But they are not. It’s just that Philpott has fleshed out his delivery, deepened the tone, enunciated more effectively, and basically upped his game by about three levels. It’s more harrowing, more in keeping with the music, and less cartoonish.
This is no 35-minute listen whilst driving to pick up the shopping. It is an album that demands full attention. In terms of the sheer enormity of this project, it is gargantuan and cinematic in scale, drenched in atmospheric movements, gloriously over the top in parts, and utterly compelling. The songs are epic in style and size, in substance and sheer intensity. And we have not yet touched on the subject matter here.
Ah yes, the themes of the album. Well, it’s not unique, for bands have tackled the grief cycle before. We can trace albums back to Neil Young’s 1973 opus Tonight’s The Night, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Ghosteen, David Bowie’s final release Blackstar, the more obscure Orion Saiph’s Seven Stages Of Grief, and even Opeth’s My Arms, Your Hearse.
All tackle similar topics, all influenced by personal tragedies that the artists experienced in their lives. However, Ofnus have identified their own path for this topic, and bring with it their own unique set of emotions and feelings that pour out upon listening to these seven songs back-to-back.
That first listen unleashes an unrelenting wave of blistering riffing, underpinned by the distressing symphonic overtures, something that was in its fledgling infancy on Time Held Me Grey And Dying but which has now reached full maturity.
The Shattering, for that is the title of the impressive opening piece, captures the prelude to the cycle, the immediacy of shock. It is a deeply intense piece and strikes a huge chord for anyone who has experienced sudden loss.
Now, I do not think this is an album applicable to every death one encounters on life’s journey. One experiences different feelings at diverse points in life. The process that is described in the seven stages of grief is not one-size-fits-all.
But regardless, the passages that roll out in The Shattering are recognisable, even if you’ve been fortunate not to have experienced this damaging life experience. Capturing such an intense and unexpected moment in time is difficult, but Ofnus have crafted a piece that hits the emotions with the force of a Tsunami.
It is powerful, massively powerful, and pulls those emotions in many directions. If you are unmoved after this opening eight minutes, then you may want to seek medical help.
The Shattering is only the introduction in more ways than just being the first song. Reflections Of Delusion is the first of those epic songs on Valediction. Tackling the emotion of denial that comes after the shock, it is a rollercoaster of a track. Ranging from full Black Metal onslaught to more traditional Heavy Metal patterns, it descends into darkness at the five-minute point.
The descent is steep, with sweeping movements of orchestral theatre. It contrasts with the visceral outpouring of the shortest track here, the anger of Throes Of Agony. Explosive, huge riffs dominate whilst Spargo’s drumming hammers with controlled brutality. A brief respite midway bows to the most ferocious part of the whole album.
What Ofnus has done on Valediction is create cinematic soundscapes that truly engage the emotions. Despite the extreme nature of the playing and the rasping vocals, the substantial melodies genuinely capture true feelings born from one of life’s rawest experiences.
The highs and lows that are experienced on the wild, sprawling Proteus, another exhaustingly compulsive epic that swings wildly throughout its 11+minute duration whilst the fog of depression as reality sinks home is captured on the doom-filled Zenith Dolour.
Another highly emotive track featuring a range of programming which enhances the movements, this track and Reflections Of Delusion would be magical, accompanied by a full orchestra in a serene and atmospheric environment.
Dark beyond belief, Zenith Dolour drenches the listener with heartbreaking passages of play. It’s rare that music makes me weep, but this crushing piece, with the emotionally captivating string section, had me in pieces.
As this segment slowly crumbles into a majestic explosion which is amongst the most compelling and moving parts of this whole album, it’s impossible not to feel the heart twitch with sheer exhaustion. A truly colossal piece of work, it’s the standout track without a doubt.
Does one feel any sense of elation at the acceptance of a bereavement? Unlikely, but from recent personal experience, one does achieve a calm that you pray for but which truly cannot exist for months. When it does arrive, then the soundtrack one experiences is Valediction.
A nine-minute conclusion to the cycle, it’s something that will be personal to all that hear it for a multitude of reasons. The immense wall of sonic intensity that flows is enough, but throw in multiple explosive parts, including a raging segment that sees Philpott’s growls duel with Spargo’s blast beats, as well as some fine guitar work, and it’s a song that certainly flowers with a sweet and sour flavour.
It’s got the same emotional pull that bands like Opeth provide. Measured and controlled, Valediction is both demanding and uplifting at the same moment.
Whilst one might consider this to be the natural conclusion to the album, Ofnus decide to throw in an extra challenge. The alternative ending, no less. Alazia – the fear of no longer being able to change. This throws in a jarring realisation that is encapsulated in a swirling blast of chaos, a debilitating eruption of carnage that mixes all emotions in one final heady intoxication.
Inevitably, Valediction is not an album that can be appreciated, absorbed, or even loathed in one sitting. It takes time. Multiple plays have allowed the songs to soak deep into the psyche, yet every listen throws something new into the mix. Be it the combination of Hunter and fellow guitarist James Ponsford’s intricate work, the low end of Richard Rees’s understated yet essential bass rumbles, or the continued power of Spargo and Philpott’s tortured roars.
It’s a truly mighty and crafted album. Ofnus are close to being that band that deserves headline slots, if only to allow them opportunity to deliver more than two of these lengthy pieces in a set.
Ofnus open the Sophie Lancaster stage on the Friday at Bloodstock Festival in August. It should be an astonishing set.
