Zornes Heimat

When it comes to the German black metal underground Odal is one of the more prominent acts (at least in my book), and that’s probably where they want to remain. I think making it big would be one of the worst things that could happen to this band, and that they want to stay clear from anything that could be considered mainstream. Not to be trve, kvlt or any lame excuse like that, but because that’s where black metal hails from, and belongs. But on with the actual review then… "Zornes heimat" is their latest fullength, and it offers seven tracks of epic proportions.

Each track ranges from six and a half minutes to just above eight minutes, which is way longer than most bands can pull off. But Odal does it with ease; never does it get repetitive or tedious. The riffing is extremely cold, but still the melodies come off with such warmth (yeah, I know I’m contradicting myself, but I stand by my own assessment). What they do is mix harsh black metal with melody derived from pagan influences, and this makes the music both cold and warm in some ways, although it’s quite difficult to explain.

"Brennender himmel", the opening track, is actually a clear favourite on the album. The drumming is set in a perfect fast tempo, but never reaching blasting, and the riffing is just an endless line of chilling melody. Add to that the extremely haunting vocals of Taaken, whose main screams would be enough in all of its harshness, but the sudden outbursts of just pure desperation in his voice gives me goosebumps. And that track puts the vocals to use most effectively, although the remainder of the album is definitely worth attention as well. I mentioned the length of the songs, which you’ll never really notice. The tracks have a lot of nuances, tempo and drum pattern changes that it never gets dull. And with the pagan aspect easing up on the otherwise fairly raw black metal, it adds that melodic touch, making otherwise great songs grandeur.

The production suits the music perfectly; it’s clear yet retains a harsh edge. And with all the strong points of this album (like for instance the great melodic line in "Grau mit finstrer gestalt", the weird but highly enjoyable bass line in "Feuers kraft", the magnificent tempo halfway into "Tausend wüsten" or the already mentioned masterful vocals) I’d recommend this album anyday to anyone. This is raw pagan black metal in its essence.

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net