Formed in 2020, out of the ashes of two projects coming to an end, Los Angeles' VAAMATAR was born with one intention: to play black metal in its purest form. Raw and fast and free of frills, the full-length Medievalgeist is the follow-up to their debut EP, Evil Witching Black Metal. Immediately, old sensations are awakened and recast anew. The spectre of the second wave of black metal during the 1990s drapes its wings across Medievalgeist, but VAAMATAR's strong songwriting eludes easy categorization. Instead of early Darkthrone, one can hear here contemporaneously early Dødheimsgard; instead of early Enslaved, the '90s work of Norway's Hades; instead of prime Marduk, comparably prime Arckanum, and so on. Which is all to underline that the duo of VAAMATAR are old souls to the bitter end, having imbibed ancient wisdoms and now spilling them freely across their own teachings in the form of Medievalgeist. Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Greg Wilkinson (Autopsy, Necrot, Vastum) during the turbulent unrelenting pandemic, Medievalgeist conveys a cold, apocalyptic atmosphere fit for the ages. Its six-song/41-minute runtime is exceptionally immersive, working on spiritual/transcendental levels as well as ones rooted in good, old-fashioned headbanging. But mark these words: VAAMATAR do not play "party" black metal. This is serious, sophisticatedly unsophisticated Black Art brewed in archaic splendor - old catacombs open and spectral shades escape to the velvety embrace of the night. This is Medievalgeist!