Nebelhymnen

I came across this band by randomly searching for artists on the internet. I looked it up here on MA, and I saw that there were three full-lengths and one demo. This piece of art has been made by sole member I.H, a guitarist from Eluveitie. The demo had extremely positive reviews, so I decided to check it out. I got a hold on this full-length first, and I must say I’m very impressed. This was so unsuspected, and I’m glad that Nebelhymnen was the first I listened to, because personally I prefer this one best from the discography.

Each piece on this album is extraordinary and a delight for the ears. It’s very melodic, but in a “good way”, by that I mean that he haven’t overdone the melodies and made them cheesy and metalcore like. The melodies are rather epic and reminds of pride, adventures and journey. Every single riff on the album is genius.

The vocals are important to point out. He has an amazing voice and kind of reminds of Goatmoon and Mgla, which are amongst my favorite bands. It is very sharp and fierce, even though it isn‘t so much louder than the rest of the instruments, it is clear and gives an amazing effect. If you listen to the instrumental Rabenflug demo (which also is a fabulous release), and then to this album, you will notice how much of a difference the voice makes.

There is some synth an acoustic guitar work in between, which I.H has used very wisely. There isn’t that much synth, just a little bit to back up the melodies, in contradiction to Dimmu Borgir who fuck up everything with the synth, at least in their newer works. This way of using the keyboard is what I like, and Forest of Fog is one of the few bands that can control the use of synth in a good way, in my opinion.

The acoustic sections are pretty small and makes smooth intros and outros for some of the songs. Some has a little acoustic guitar in the middle of the songs just for a “brake”, and then goes back again, which is a good “extra”.

Nebelhymnen is a 56 mins long piece of perfection, and is amongst my most beloved albums.

This should be heard and can be enjoyed by any metal fan.

Stand out tracks: All