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Borknagar > The Archaic Course > Reviews
Borknagar - The Archaic Course

Too ambitious for its own sake - 62%

lukretion, October 3rd, 2021
Written based on this version: 1998, CD, Century Media Records (Worldwide)

After releasing in 1997 a strong album like The Olden Domain - an eclectic blend of prog, black metal and Viking metal -, Øystein Brun and his bandmates entered Woodhouse Studios again in 1998 to record eight new compositions under the supervision of sound engineer Matthias Klinkmann, who had already worked on their previous record. However, the line-up that entered Woodhouse in 1998 was quite different from that that recorded The Olden Domain in 1997. Singer Kristoffer Rygg left the band to concentrate on his mainstay bands Ulver and Arcturus. He was replaced by ICS Vortex (real name Simen Hestnæs), who had already appeared on Arcturus’ La Masquerade Infernale and who came with the recommendation of Rygg himself. In addition, a second guitarist Jens F. Ryland was added to the line-up, while keyboard player Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) was essentially on his way out of the band, being already credited as guest player in the CD booklet.

All these transformations may partly explain why Borknagar’s third full-length feels much more tentative, messy, and ultimately disappointing than its predecessor. I suspect in particular that the transition from one to two guitar players was not yet fully metabolized by the band, seeing how in most songs of the album the guitar work is in considerable disarray, with ruffled riffs, chaotic leads and a general lack of refinement in how the different guitar parts are overlaid and arranged. I should say that the production certainly does not help here. The album sounds rough and dirty, definitely not making justice to the complexity and busyness of the material. The mix is also rather unbalanced, with keyboards and guitars all over the place and the vocals buried deep down to the point of being barely audible at times.

But messy production and overcrowded songwriting cannot fully explain the palpable dip in quality in the new material relative to The Olden Domain. Part of the problem lies instead in an increased musical ambition that was unfortunately not yet fully matched by actual songwriting and arrangement abilities. Don’t get me wrong, all musicians involved in this album are top-notch, and in fact Borknagar were rightly considered a sort of extreme metal “super group” at the time. But Øystein Brun’s songwriting on this album does not sound fully mature and up to the level that is required to properly blend together extreme metal and progressive/experimental metal, as Borknagar were clearly attempting to do at the time. The album tries really hard to innovate and surprise the listener with a flurry of tempo changes, interlocking sub-sections and quirky arrangements. But there is no flow, harmony or coherence in the way these musical ideas are structured and arranged, and the result feels very much like an infernal cauldron that is constantly on the brink of spiralling out of control (which it does more than once). My overall impression is that the material for this album would have needed a longer gestation period, possibly in the hands of a more expert producer (Klinkmann had worked mostly as sound engineer in his career) who could help the band hone their sound, by refining the structure and arrangements of the songs and pruning away the most out-there and superfluous bits.

Speaking of out-there bits, ICS Vortex is an excellent singer as he will demonstrate with his stints with Dimmu Borgir and Arcturus, but he does not exactly shine on this album. Again, the problem is one of trying too hard. His vocals sweep between grim vocals, theatrical baritones and extravagant falsettos, which is impressive. However, his performance does feel forced and strained at times, like on “The Witching Hour” and “The Black Token”, a pair of songs which is probably the lowest point of the record and where ICS Vortex sounds more like a caricature of Rygg than the good singer he actually is.

All this trying hard to be progressive and experimental also means that a lot of the folk vibes that had adorned The Olden Domain are notched down considerably on The Archaic Course. The new music is also more aggressive and frenzied, making fewer concessions to melody in favour of speed and heaviness, another aspect that I do not particularly appreciate of this record.

Ultimately, there are only a handful of tracks that I find myself returning to on this record. “Ocean Rise” and “Universal” open the album in a style that is not dramatically different from the songs of The Olden Domain, albeit “Universal” does feel a tad too busy at times. However, the best song on the album is probably “Ad Noctum”, the only track not penned by Brun but by ICS Vortex. It is a frenzied mash-up of 1970s Hammond organ and furious black metal played at a breakneck tempo, which is stunning in its vigour and audacity. It feels very much ahead of its times, like some of the music that Arcturus were doing around the same years, and it would not feel out of place even today, 25 years later, on the record of a forward-thinking extreme metal act like Ihsahn or Leprous.

Although on each song I can find one or two musical moments that draw my interest, there is no other track on this record that I enjoy listening to from start to finish. Ultimately, this makes sitting through the album quite a chore and I can’t see myself playing this one much often in the future, especially when I could instead play one of the other better albums by Borknagar, like The Olden Domain. Overall, I’d say The Archaic Course is for completionists or hardcore fans of the band only. Everyone else should approach this one with caution, if at all.

Where all rivers run - 95%

autothrall, March 28th, 2020
Written based on this version: 1998, CD, Century Media Records (Worldwide)

Despite its introduction of Simen Hestnæs, I.C.S. Vortex, into the Borknagar lineup, and onto the radars of metal fans the world over, The Archaic Course seemed to arrive and depart without a whole lot of fanfare. It wasn't that it had a particularly negative reaction, but there was a sense of disappointment for some who were likely expecting more of the arguably denser material that comprised The Olden Domain. Although it has just as dynamic a range between its aggressive tendencies and folksy Nordic flow, it is certainly a little more sure of itself and straightforward. But the switch between Garm and Simen's vocals might have been a sore point, or the more rambling and vaulted songwriting, or whatever perplexing reasons that it wasn't better received.

Obviously, I would disagree with any such assessment, because if it's not already painfully clear, this is my favorite Borknagar album. Not by a wide margin, mind you, but this was simply one of those important records that came along in the decade of grunge, nu metal and diminishing returns for a number of subgenres and blew my mind. This is one of those of those 90s albums that expanded my own expectations of what 'metal' music could be, what it could accomplish, and even though they've continued for decades to create beautiful iterations of this style with albums like Empiricism, Winter Thrice and True North, this remains the point where the floodgates opened and a band that had already deluged and impressed me with its earlier works simply drowned me in admiration. That's not to say it doesn't have a few flaws, some rough edges that would be hewn down the road, but I found it positively magnificent back in my 20s and feel no differently in middle age. This thing is a storm of mood and majesty across eight tracks and 38 minutes, and features a number of my fave tracks across the Norwegians' entire history to date.

Now the style here doesn't exactly distance itself far from The Olden Domain, but there was a cleaner and more cosmic feel to how the material was presented and produced. Vibrant if melancholic chord patterns continued to pull from the traditional folk influences just as much as Bathory's Blood Fire Death, and there was a lot more of a direct showcase on the guitars themselves, with percussion often segueing out for some glimmering acoustics or even the winding electric riffs. Kai K. Lie was still performing bass at this point and offers up a cool, subtle, almost psychedelic selection of grooves that lock right together with Brun's poignant riffing. In his final Borknagar performance before a tragic overdose in 1999, Grim lays out a dense level of thunder on the low end of his kit, which only helps to elevate the vocals and guitars out into the firmament, and his fills are great at adding more depth to the constant, swaggering shifts in rhythm. Ivar of Enslaved was still here helping to arrange some of the songs, as well as joining Vortex on the synthesizers, which range from ominous choirs to more slicing, proggy pads that cut through the backdrop of the rhythm instruments' atmosphere. Just because it's a little more direct doesn't make this any less complex than its predecessor, in fact as heavily arranged as their later material would be during the Vintersorg years and before, there was often every bit as much going on throughout this one.

Of course the real star for me is Simen's voice, which even with its lesser level of polish here is still one of the most distinct entities on the whole Norse scene, which contains a whole lot of bands I like that have made constant evolutions beyond their traditional roots. There is obviously a parallel to Garm, but Vortex was simply capable of presenting a wider range, like a yodeler who suddenly got all grim and serious. The snarls here are solid as well, but there was no question after hearing this that the soaring clean vocals were going to remain a central feature going forward. While he occasionally does seem to go off pitch ever so slightly, the way the voice interacts with the busy riffing was just something so new to me back when I first heard this. And having had the good fortune to see them tour on this album with Emperor, the Kings of Terror package, I can attest that it sounded even better in that setting than it did on this recording. But it is utterly mighty either way, especially in tracks like "Ad Nocturm" or "Black Token" where he alternates it with some of the more chaotic and wicked black metal rasping for a duality that doesn't sound the slightest bit forced or cheesy.

It would be hard to choose favorites here, but in addition to those I just mentioned, I'll give a nod to the beautiful, steady "Winter Millennium", "Universal" and the heavily fjord-flowing "Oceans Rise" which was a track that definitely caught on with a lot of folks, even if the album as a whole didn't. But there's not a bad track among these, not one point that I ever feel like skipping a single measure, not even for the arguably anticlimactic synth, voice and storm-sampled outro "Fields of Long Gone Presence", which has this warmth to it among the crackling thunder and shining keys which is worth its very short journey. It's totally awesome, even for the few instances where the vocals or melodies might not be perfectly executed in isolation from the rest of the mix; the flaws, and they're minor at most, only end up endearing me to the whole thing even more (and I'd say the same of Garm's stuff on the first two albums). Ultimately, with its ponderous, nature-tinted lyrics and the rich musical language the band had been developing for itself coming fully into fruition, The Archaic Course is probably one of the most underrated albums I own in my entire collection. I've still got my beat up old cardboard promo slip CD for this one, from my early zine years in the 90s, and it's well past time I upgraded for one with a booklet.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Lost at Sea - 50%

doomknocker, October 27th, 2014
Written based on this version: 1998, CD, Century Media Records (US)

Borknagar has always been an odd one; never content with just sitting down and letting the music speak for itself, each successive album toys with a slew of differing concepts and notions, at least two per record, only to end up sound mostly unfocused with only a few moments where it all properly gels to cohesion. I'm sure it has quite a bit to do with Oystein's desire for the band to not be "just another black metal act", but in the end I wonder where it all truly came from. And yet, I can't help but at least enjoy the ride as it all progresses, enjoy enough of it to come back time and again, maybe with a slight hope that one day they'll write their own metallic masterpiece? And it's not like they've released anything to be considered out and out shit, at least for me (though "Epic" strays awfully close...), so there's that. It's just that, deep down, I'd hoped they would take all the elements that differentiated them from the rest of the Nordic horde and put it to legit good use, and believe me when I say that years ago, that didn't happen...

Misguided songwriting and performance will bog down the enjoyment factor of ANY album no matter the band or approach and truly, when sitting down for a good listening session of "The Archaic Course" it's really hard to shake the notion of being lost at sea. As before, Borknagar appears as though they have an idea on what they want to accomplish but have absolutely no clue on how to actually do it. They don't really stray from the sounds presented on "The Olden Domain" or the self-titled debut, and if anything take the same approach and more or less lose all inhibition. Black metal chords meet psychedelic synth ambience and wayward arrangement schemes that, I hope, at least made sense to the band itself upon composition and recording, for average listeners may end up begging for a road map a few songs in. But when they're on, it's all truly gravy and a fine listen throughout its (sometimes) short durations; the grooving Pink Floydian chord structure after the first verse in "Nocturnal Vision", for example, is pure ear candy, as are the monstrous Viking hikes of "Universal" and the crushing speed metal tandems of "Ad Noctum".

On the aesthetic side, the production is clean and clear, enough to hear every bit of instrumentation contained, albeit with a sort of flat woodiness that kind of lowers the level of breathing room. As well, the group's performance is spirited to the point of wanting to smash everything in the room, particularly the guitars and drum work, something to not knock them for; phoning it in would have made the experience all the more taxing. Everyone seems to possess a serious boost of adrenaline when hopping into the studio, but none were more all over the place than newcomer frontman Mr. ICS Vortex. While the Vortex we all know and love is in there, somewhere, and his singing style was more of a fit for the musical approach at hand than Garm's druidic chants, it really comes off as though he was either overcompensating or trying WAY TOO HARD to prove himself this time around. And seeing as 80 to 85% of his vocal approach is him singing with only a few moments here and there of black metal screaming, this tends to present a problem on occasion. The amount of energy and power he puts behind his voice in order to cut through it all is grand within the first few minutes of the song at hand, but as it all wears on he tends to lose a lot of it while trying to keep control (e.g. at 4:21 into "The Black Token" you can actually hear him physically straining to maintain the octave and kinda die out during the section's outro...). If only he could have scaled it all back (if not the whole band itself...) and let it all come naturally chances are it wouldn't have sounded so unfortunately forced. Ah well...

All in all there are moments where "The Archaic Course" shines, but the bulk of it all is too out of control and confused with itself to be fully enjoyed. It truly does feel more like a further stone in the path towards the ultimate fusion of black and prog metal rather than a full-on product, yet that shouldn't denigrate it. It's good where it counts, but there are better Borknagar albums out there nonetheless...

Epic and To The Point - 96%

Kveldulfr, August 17th, 2012

After 2 excellent albums with Garm on vocals, he decided to leave since he lost interest on the proyect, thus recommending ICS Vortex (who sang on Arcturus' LMI 1 year prior) to fill in the vocals. Ivar Bjornson (Enslaved) was also leaving, playing on this album more like a guest than anything and also Borknagar added a guitar player in the name of Jens Ryland, thinking on getting the band more suitable for live performances. Even taking into account all these changes (in less than a year, mind you), the resulting material it's still pretty consistent within the band's style.

This album follows the trend of ditching the black metal element in favor of a more folk/progressive approach (like their countrymates Enslaved did a couple years after), which can be heard thru all the songwriting, especially the extensive use of clean vocals. Still, Oystein Brun has a great sense of epicness to the songwriting and he doesn't disappoint, writing a great set of songs with a stronger sense of melody but not forgetting the aggression needed for a (almost former) black metal band. Borknagar will keep many of the elements presented on this album throught all their career, as shown thru the Vintersorg era and especially the last 2 albums (being 2012, those albums are Universal and Urd).

The first song, 'Oceans Rise' shows up pretty much what you can find on the whole album: mid paced blackened 'viking' metal with a strong 70's prog vibe. The bass it's very interesting (in a John Paul Jones way) contributing with neat basslines, something not common for black metal at the date. The keys have both the atmospheric support and a heavy progressive feeling , especially when using ol' fashion samples (like the hammond organs in Ad Noctum). The guitars have a very nice sound, enough bite to sound heavy but clear enough to hear every detail. Drums provided by Grim are, as always, exactly what was needed: very solid drumming with some great use of double bass and the exact amount of fills to not steal the show but complementing everything just well. The grim vocals sounds decent, similar to Shagrath's in EDT or SBD, but the highlight it's on the cleans. Vortex gives a flawless performance full of conviction, epicness, strength and spirit. If you weren't a fan of Vortex on Dimmu, try him here, he really shines and some of his best work as a singer it's here!

All these elements give a powerful 'nordic' feeling to the album, all wrapped in a canvas of existencialism, which it's perfectly portrayed on the lyrics. I can imagine Vortex at the top of the highest mountain, having a full sight or a cold kingdom singing about the oceans, mountains and how those nature elements are related to our thoughts and existence. Just check the last vocal lines of Winter Millenium for instance, or the chorus of Universal! Simen sounds like a Norse god, resonating thru the walls of ice and his commanding and solemn voice travelling thru every wind, reaching every forest around.

The album it's pretty consistent, where every song has its own charm but also sounds very cohesive as a whole, keeping the mood until the end. My favs are Oceans Rise, Universal, The Black Token and Winter Millenium. If you're tired of the same black metal sound, you can't pass much over the grim vocals, like folk/viking stuff, extreme progressive stuff (Like Ihsahn and Enslaved) and love some seriously epic music, go for this album; completely recommended!

Black Metal for those who dislike the genre - 84%

Agonymph, July 16th, 2007

Many people on this website seem to dislike this album. That is exactly why I am writing this review. It’s rare for me to write reviews on Black Metal albums, but I have always considered Borknagar is too inventive to fit that mold anyway. Let’s put it like this then: ‘The Archaic Course’ is one of my favorite albums labeled Black Metal of all time. There’s plenty of room for folky melodies, progressive elements and stellar songwriting, which is the basis for any good album.

As icing on the cake, there’s Simen Hestnæs (better known under his alias ICS Vortex) singing on the album. Hestnæs is without a doubt my favorite singer of the scene. He has just been blessed with singing in a scene which I generally consider crap. ‘The Archaic Course’ is, as said before, an exception. Even though Hestnæs’ voice is a little low in the mix every now and then, his performance is stellar.

Black Metal purists who don’t already know, the music on ‘The Archaic Course’ is NOT Black Metal. Well, not for most of it anyway. Borknagar did borrow elements from the same influences, but seems to focus on Scandinavian Folk and progressive Rock as an element, rather than putting together some pieces of random noise. ‘The Archaic Course’ has no blastbeats, very few dissonants and the vast majority of the album is sung clean.

In that matter, opening track ‘Oceans Rise’ did throw me off a little in the beginning. The first two verses are decorated with guttural vocals from Hestnæs, but once the beautiful and enchanting chorus starts, I’m convinced of the quality of this song. And of this band! The guitar melodies are haunting and the song builds towards a nice climax as well. The folky outro of the song rounds the whole thing off beautifully. There’s more clean guitar parts throughout the song, which makes it slightly shift mood every now and then. It’s hard to do that within a song, but Borknagar succeeds, thanks to Øystein G. Brun’s songwriting qualities.

‘Universal’ follows and has some of the best vocal work I’ve heard Simen Hestnæs do to date! The music of the song is top quality anyway, but the vocals are the real treat in this song. They just send shivers down my spine! They build up to something higher and more powerful gradually and how he does it is a mystery to me, but it works very well!

Another highlight for me personally is the song ‘Ad Noctum’, which is coincidentally the only song Hestnæs penned all the music to. The song is a bit weird, but in a good way. The hammond organ (also played by Hestnæs) gives the song a distinct seventies feel and there is a part with some dissonants, which really gives it a Yes-vibe. The intro consists of a beautiful melody as well. The different vibe already made me guess that Brun didn’t write this one. And Hestnæs did a great job on it anyway.

The other songs on the album are nothing remarkable, but they’re just good Metal songs. Nothing wrong with that! A friend of mine is still trying to convert me into Black Metal and as long as there’s albums like these labelled Black Metal, I won’t say anything in the genre is crap. And as long as there are singers like Simen Hestnæs, I’m not really complaining about the vocals either. This stuff is actually quite good!

Enter the Dimmuborgosphere - 40%

Zaphod, May 13th, 2007

First time I heard this, it somehow reminded me of late Dimmu Borgir, but I had no idea why. Sure both are somewhat melodic extreme metal, but the comparison should end there, mostly - not for this album, however, they're both pretty bad.

Next time I checked, and found out: it's the same fucking wanker of a bass player singing here! I agree it may be purely personal preference, but I think the guy seriously sucks at vocals. His semi-operatic voice may be a thing the average human cannot pull off and may catch the attention for a short while, but apart from being all over the place, singing way too many notes per syllable and blatantly out of key on a number of occasions, it's pretty boring, and pretty much ruins the album.

That is, not quite - the music is all over the place, too, and even with a better vocalist, it would be subpar. Call it progressive, I call it lack of decent songwriting. The melodies go in all directions except an interesting or cohesive one, the rhythm keeps on dragging the songs from one mediocre moment to another, each equally wanting in inspiration, and the Vortex guy keeps on wailing all the while.

Sure, there are a handful of nice moments. The first track, for instance, is not bad - even the vocals are okay - and reminds me of Opeth with its acoustic ending. However, there's nothing stellar going on here. Call it atmospheric, then it's more like the atmosphere of an afternoon drizzle. "Oceans rising" - I see the link.

Next song, more drizzle, but the vocals start getting intrusive by now. No, they're getting downright annoying and pretentious. Check the section from 4:00 onwards - if that's not out of key, then I'm a Thüringer Bratwurst!! Godawful - and certainly not the last time!

And so forth, the songs succeed one another in a pretty non-notable fashion, some being slightly better at convoking that drizzle image than others. Fortunately, I've got a roof above my head to keep the drizzle out, and similarly have got the stop button to give Vortex a well-deserved break.

Not their best, but still a gem. - 82%

woeoftyrants, April 7th, 2007

Borknagar have been cited as one of metal's best progressive bands with their intruiging mix of atmospheric black metal aesthetics, folk passages, a growing prog rock influence, and highly cryptic lyrics. Their album The Archaic Course isn't as nearly as evolved as the newer offerings from the band, or even the album that followed. But for the impeccable songwriting and musicianship, genuine atmosphere, and the band's all-around odd nature, The Archaic Course is a definite diamond in the rough that often goes overlooked.

Oystein has been credited as the band's main songwriter, musically and lyrically; but you wouldn't think so when listening to this album. Several prominent figures in the Norwegian scene collaborated on this album, and their ability to gel in such a different musical environment comes through on this album. The songwriting is highly progressive without being show-offish, pretentious, or long-winded. (In fact, many of the songs are under 6 minutes.) Many different experimental touches are used here; the acoustic ending of "Oceans Rise" is probably one of the most famous examples of it, but the ethereal, militant keyboards that end "The Black Token" are another exellent example. One of the greatest moments for the synths, though, are the manic, frenzied, high-speed organs of "Ad Noctum," or the short but sweet intro for "Winter Millenium." The band are guided through mazes of intricately crafted mid-paced passages and never falter or become repetitive in their delivery, which is one thing that makes the album such an unsung classic.

The mildly technical drumwork toggles between fast-paced, urgent double bass and more intricate, crafty mid-paced sections. "Ad Noctum" is quite impressive in the drum department with the tight articulation during the beats on the verses, and the quick fills help to play off the pounding double bass. There are plenty of storming black metal influences here in the drums, so the heavier numbers like "The Black Token" only benefit from the punchy but controlled drum sound. The drummer also shows an adept ability to keep up with the odd, jarring song structures, where a tempo or time signature can change in the blink of an eye.

Although the guitar work here is nowhere near as prog-oriented as later albums, it does stand in its own glory. Oystein has always had a very signature way of playing; rather than relying on power chords and tremolo picking, he uses a more open, technical way of playing with lots of weird sounding chords, clean-picked arpeggios, amorphous leads, and acoustic breaks that seem to take more cues from soundscapes or new age than metal. The Archaic Course sees the apex of his all-electric style, before evolving to next phases of his playing abilities on Quintessence.

It would be a sin not to mention ICS Vortex here. His chops aren't on par with what he does now in Arcturus, but he proves to be a powerful and emotional vocalist who has a bit more range than Garm. "Universal" and "Oceans Rise" feature some very nice vocal harmonies, and the ending of "Winter Millenium" is nothing short of epic. His screams are typical black metal, but with a bit of the venom that Garm was known for. "Ad Noctum," again, is one of the best displays of just how extreme he can be, and just as easily switch back to the clean vocals without trouble.

Everything on this album is a bit more raw and primal in nature than later albums, but still shows more polish on all levels than the band's first two albums. If you really think about it, The Archaic Course is The Olden Domain taken to a new progressive level, but still stands on its own two feet. The production is clean throughout, and the guitars use a fairly standard metal distortion to avoid becoming a wall of sound. (Which I'm thankful for, because Oystein writes great guitar parts.) The drum production is probably one of the best throughout Borknagar's career; the driving bass drum is pushed out for some extra grit, the snare has a nice cut to it, and the cymbals are perfectly balanced for clarity. Everything is a bit more tame than I think serves the music, but things would change with years to come.

Though some fans of later Borknagar may not like this album as much, it nonetheless is a great album, even if suffering from not being as experimental as the band's later offerings.

Favorite tracks: "Oceans Rise," "The Black Token," "Winter Millenium."

BorknagAh! What a mess THIS is!!!! - 45%

HealthySonicDiet, February 2nd, 2004

Ha, it's no wonder that fellow reviewer and metal enthusiast Hail VUUDZP complained about not being able to sit through a Borknagar album. I don't know about The Olden Domain, Empiricism, Quintessence or their self-titled debut, but The Archaic Course is pretty fucking boring.

I had heard the opening song "Oceans Rise" on Century Media Records Identity V sampler disc and I liked it very much, taking note of the lush acoustic guitars, so when I ran across this album used and on sale for $7.99 at my local music store, I decided to pick it up, along with Mercyful Fate's Melissa and Tiamat's A Deeper Kind of Slumber.

I heavily regret having wasted my money now because this album is definitely not worth the plastic case it's sold in. In fact, the first song Oceans Rise is perhaps the only decent song on the album. I've given the album a full listen twice in order to give it a chance to impress me, but it hasn't. I pretty much subscribe to the "Three strikes. You're out" philosophy and if I somehow fall in love with this album on any subsequent listens, I'll be surprised because this is SO incoherent!! Every song meanders through endless thorns and dark forests of just mindless guitar-playing. There are barely any transitions in the music and it's very difficult to distinguish one song from the other. Also, I'm disappointed that the lush acoustic guitars aren't more prevalent.

In fact, the only song where they are heavily noticeable is the first track, Oceans Rise. That song has beautiful, sorrowful acoustic guitar playing that allows the listener a little breathing room. Every other song on this album is just overly straightforward nonsense with lousy vocals. I'm not against straightforwardness, but when a band does NOTHING to keep the song interesting and has shitty songwriting, it really turns out to be a mess. I advise Borknagar to seek much counsel from progressive metal bands in the art of keeping songs interesting.

Some guy named Vortex does the vocals for this album and he is utterly annoying and sounds very much like Garm from Arcturus. Don't get me wrong...I love Arcturus and Garm, but this vocalist really doesn't fit the music and makes it seem like a fucking vaudeville circus show or something of that ilk. Even the harsh black metal shrieking is pathetic. It's very weak and whiny at times. Limbonic Art owns these guys in the black metal shrieking department.

I feel really terrible giving this album a bad review. Hell, I feel terrible giving any album a bad review, because I like to be open-minded and appreciate all music, but it's just really hard to like this. I have a right not to like something, don't I? This band has a lot of potential IMO and perhaps they fully manifest that on a different album/s, but this is just a horrible attempt at Viking/folk/progressive black-ish metal or whatever the fuck this style of metal is. Just stay away and go listen to Solefald, Limbonic Art, and Apotheosis.