EyeMDX-tasy

Everyone knows that many black metal groups have tendencies of rehashing; Asgaard is not one of these groups. They play a somewhat slightly experimental, gothic style of black metal. The aspect that really sets this band apart is vocalist Przemys; he has an amazing range that goes from the deepest growl to the most epic of clean vocals. The vocals are reminiscent of Borknagar but definitely have their own flare. Przemys has a good amount of soul in his voice and uses vibrato effectively and tastefully throughout the entire release. He also varies his clean voice and experiments with different tonal ranges.

The guitar plays a role as more of an instrument of texture. The guitarists do nothing extremely exciting, technically; however, the tone of the guitars is impeccable. They sound very warm, organic, and have a nice overdriven feel to them but ultimately maintain a great punch. The guitars are also performed very well, and do great things for the song. The drums are your standard black metal affair, the kicks are a little too triggered for my taste and the snare a bit tight but not annoying. Mateusz Czech puts forth an above average performance but does nothing that really sets him apart; he definitely has the potential however.

The only instruments I have a real problem with are the synthesizers, which get a little...silly at times (silly is a terrible word but best describes some of the synth parts.) There is a lot of unnecessary, distasteful noodling in the background of many songs, especially sections of "Mystery Ov Tzar's Act II". In places where a good melody or some nice full chordal passages would add atmosphere and feel the keyboardist finds it necessary to do something showy and distasteful to the song. The keyboards also sometimes have a “happy trance” vibe to them. Especially in “Eyes Ov Thy Soul”, where, all the sudden, I feel like I am in a rainbow club. Electronics do not have to sound cheesy like this, listen to …And Oceans “Cypher” or the new Dark Tranquility album “Character” for proof of this. The keyboardist does do some nice melodies using a nice organic sounding lead patch as well as some touching string arrangements. The synths, in all, have a nice sound and add well to the sound; however, they do go a bit overkill in certain areas. Wojciech Kostrzewa is definitely a skilled musician but needs to learn to play more for the song and stop ripping off Steinar from Arcturus.

Asgaard is without a doubt worth checking out if you like epic or symphonic black metal. Every song on the album is gold, at their centers, the only reason the album did not get a 100% is from the incessant, sometimes annoying, noodling of the keyboards. Also, the "interludes" on the album: "OriEnthral", "Mystery Ov Tzar's Part I" and the intro to “I Am The Ecstasy” are completely ridiculous and unnecessary to the overall vibe of the album. There are also parts in some of the songs which could have been excluded completely as they have a cheesy, almost circus sounding vibe to them and ruin the mood of the previous, very alluring passages.