Kammen

When I read in the previous review of Kammen that the album was supposed to have a heavy Katatonia influence, I was very excited, as Katatonia are one of my favorite bands of all time. Then I realized upon listening that Wyrd have been slowly heading in this direction ever since releasing the critically acclaimed Vargtimmen Pt 2. Based on what I've been able to hear of follow up albums "Rota" and "The Ghost Album" Kammen should not come as much of a surprise to anyone.

What does drag the album down a bit is not the doom influence Wyrd has slowly but surely integrated into their music but the fact that many of the songs off this 65 minute epic overstay their welcome. Opener "The Hounds Of The Falls" for example, features a pretty incredible riff, but is repeated over and over, while Narqath barks the words "the hounds of the falllllls!" about a hundred times. This would have been a cool headbangable opener had the song been trimmed to about six minutes, but instead extends to over ten. Another culprit is "October", one of the few songs that could have come from one of the "Vargtimmen" albums. It too feels dragged out. Oddly enough the eighteen minute epic "Rajalla" feels like its the perfect length! The song never bores, mixing beautiful acoustic guitars with the old traditional Wyrd sound.

Other highlights include "The Last Time", a song about being miserable and trying to convince yourself to try to live one last time before dying. Sounds like a few Katatonia lyrics I've heard before. Also, Soulburn, the closer, represents the heaviest tune on the release.

It must be said that in spite of all the criticisms, Kammen sounds like Wyrd and Wyrd alone, and that indeed is a good thing.

Well....


I was expecting new changes in Wyrd's sound after listening to the two previous albums, but I wasn't expecting such.... such changes.


Let me put this in simple words: This isn't Wyrd anymore. This is Wyrd Meets Katatonia. And I'm not just saying this because of the Katatonia cover, I'm saying this because the whole album sounds like a big Katatonia cover. What little ambient elements were floating around in the later albums is now practically gone, leaving only a rather dry and uninspiring doom/death, Katatonia worship band. Don't get me wrong, the music still holds the Wyrd essence, but man, is it HARD to feel it now that all that made this band one of my favourites is now gone for good.


The albums open with a song over ten minutes long, which, being Wyrd, would not be a problem at all, but since the ambient aura this band had is practically gone, the song tends to become a burden, a parade of doom riffs only interrupted by the occasional and nostalgic sound of an acoustic guitar. The only instrument that still feels like Wyrd. This formula will reign this album from beginning to end.
I am disappointed, this is not Wyrd.


But hell, there are still good thigs about this album. The music is overall considerably darker and to-the-face than the previous album, and even though it's also less melodic, it has a more mature feel to it. And even though it's not what I would like from Wyrd, it's a nice doom black metal album, and it's still black metal, musically and spiritually speaking.


So, if you're into Katatonia or like to experiment a little, give this album a try, who knows, maybe you'll appreciate it more than I did. If you like Wyrd because of works like Heathen or Vargtimmen..... stay away.