Urd

The reintroduction of ICS Vortex into the Borknagar lineup was a truly momentous occasion; although I can understand the draw towards playing in a major act like Dimmu Borgir, and they made what they could of their time with him, I always felt like he was underused. Considering that I enjoyed The Archaic Course more than anything that other group ever released, you could understand my palpable disappointment, and it was so great for him to return to where he rightly belonged, and to instantly play such a major role again shows a lot of class on the part of Vintersorg in particular. Not to marginalize his own presence on this album, because the two actually work wonders together, and Hedlund still contributes most of the harsh vocals and a lot of the cleans, while Lars Nedland also serves as a third vocalist in addition to his keyboard duties.

In fact, Urd is almost like a warm up to the greatness that would follow it in 2016, but in of itself it is quite an excellent album that felt considerably fresher than Universal or Epic before it. While the baseline mash of progressive, folk and Viking black metal aesthetics remained fully intact, there were a number of riffs and arrangements throughout the entire record that felt unique to me. The album doesn't seem to lean as much on the organs or synthesizers as prior outings; although they're still woven in rather well, this record heavily favors the guitars and vocals, and arguably might be the most black metal infused offering the band had released since Quintessence. Not to the exclusion of the other styles, for there are flowing, orchestrated acoustics on the calming of "The Plains of Memories", or majestic melodic folk metal on "Frostrite", it's still a heavily dynamic, diverse effort. But it does feel like you're getting a lot more floods of tremolo picked guitars, David Kinkade laying out a ton of meticulous blast beats, and the way it opens with "Epochalypse" just goes for the throat immediately with some intensity while showcasing this new multi-vocal attack and some a few really sweet riffing progressions.

Whole album is a beast, in particular the vocals, which are fairly even distributed between Vortex' cutting, higher pitch which had matured by this point over his earlier years with the band, the rasps and mid-range cleans of Vintersorg which had also improved, and Nedland's additional lines. Once in awhile they'll have this choir-like track just hovering off in the mix which sounds amazing to the point where I wish it was used even more...there is always something happening here and I'd have to brand it as one of the finer vocal albums over their whole career, trumped only by its own followup. The mix of the album is clear, but textured and powerful, like a lot of their material I feel like they just have so much more weaponry than other bands in their field, and none of it drags behind any of the other instrumentation. Combined with the great lyrics, the packaging, and the overall vision this is one of the band's top albums, although really, there are so many to choose from...my opinion of this one has even INCREASED over the last eight years since I picked it up, but it's clearly a shower just as much as a grower, more evidence that this is just one of the best bands around.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This is a special album for me. I've been a fan of Borknagar since their first album and have followed their career closely. They have made changes to their sound but I see that as progression in this case. They have also had some of extreme metal's biggest names front this band and each album has it's own sound and feel. That being said, this album is the Borknagar album I have waited for. This album features the vocal talents of not only current and long time vocalist Vintersorg handling all grim as well as clean vocals but also features Simen Hestnæs (ICS Vortex) on bass and clean vocals. Of course you know he sang with the band after the departure of Garm in the late 90s. Along with Lars Are Nedland providing his signature backing vocals, this is the vocal line-up that any Borknagar fan could ask for....unless you believe in miracles and are waiting for Garm to re-join the band!

The songs on this album remind me of the entire Borknagar catalog but also seems the perfect follow up to "Universal." They are structured for a perfect flow and are full of melody and hooks. The guitars are extremely prominent with the keys providing just the right mix of old progressive rock and classic metal to provide the perfect atmosphere. The album starts with "Epochalypse", a speedy song fitting for an intro but also giving you a taste of the epic songs to follow. "Roots" continues the momentum where you begin to feel the nature and earthiness of this album. "The Earthling" is just about the best song they have ever done...period! With the slow emotional beginning this song just builds to this climax of emotion. This song is where Mr. V. really shows his vocal talents. The lyrics just touch home for me.

The latter half of the album is just as strong with songs like "Mount Regency" picking the pace back up but also being a varied song. The vocals, once again, stand out with Mr. V. and ICS Vortex sharing the vocal duties. "Frostrite" continues the flow with Vortex showing his beautiful clean vocals. This vocals on this song reminds me of something from The Archaic Course. "The Winter Eclipse" is the longest song on the album, clocking in a 8:45 this is another song that shows the absolute talent of this band. Rounding out the album is the proggy "In a Deeper World" where Vortex is the shining star with his soaring clean vocals.

This is not an album you just listen to. You have to experience this album. This is not the kick your teeth in metal album. Instead what you get here are songs that flow together to make the album a musical journey about nature and life instead of just a collection of songs.

http://elitistmetalhead.blogspot.com/

(The following review was written for http://hollywoodmetal.com/)

To anyone who has been following Borknagar at all during their almost two-decade-long career, the sound of their newest album should come as no surprise. It picks up where 2010’s “Universal” left off: marking another step on their journey away from “kvlt” Black Metal toward a more measured, sophisticated sound. The path from alienating to accessible is one that many Metal bands have taken, but few have weathered it as well as this band. Though their sound has changed dramatically – this album sounds nothing like their savage 1996 debut – they have maintained a high level of quality and a clarity of vision. This is impressive for a band whose lineup has been in constant flux. Fortunately, the lineup from “Universal” is retained, with the exception of bassist Erik Tiwaz who has been replaced by former member and underground hero ICS Vortex.

The music on this album is as fluid as their roster. Songs flow gracefully from delicate passages of guitar picking to furious salvos of double-kick, developing patiently and purposefully like a Beethoven piano sonata. There are verses and choruses here, certainly, but the verses generally wind through multiple sections and the choruses are often overshadowed by the powerful climaxes that conclude many of the songs.

The sophistication of the compositions is matched by the virtuosity of their performance. Øystein and longtime bandmate and keyboardist Lars Nedland are fantastic – as always – and the vocals of Vintersorg and Vortex compliment each other perfectly during the gorgeous harmonies in songs like “The Winter Eclipse” and “In a Deeper World.” Drummer David Kinkade, a new addition as of “Universal”, delivers a stunning performance that is creative, precise, and charismatic.

Yet, despite all of this, I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed. The songs are enjoyable enough but most of them don’t “stick with me” after I’m done listening to the album. The most notable exception to this is the Vortex-centric tune “Frostrite” – undoubtedly a leftover from his solo album, “Stormseeker” – whose big pop hooks and primal simplicity stand in stark contrast to the more contemplative approach that most of the other songs take.

Urd” isn’t really about instant gratification, though. It is an understated, calculated album that requires patience from the listener and rewards repeated listens, and despite my aforementioned frustration with it I do find myself enjoying it a little more each time I put it on. It won’t “melt your face” – as Metal records are often expected to do – or change your life, but it is a respectable effort by a group that has weathered seventeen years and innumerable lineup changes and has retained their adventurous spirit in the face of a notoriously stubborn audience. Let’s hope this iteration stays together long enough to truly unify as musicians and produce an album that fully delivers upon the promise of this one.

I do not believe that everything Simen Hestnæs touches is pure gold. His solo group, along with this album, proves that his beautiful clean vocals are not able to save every work he is involved with. The album does have some entrancing moments, but not enough to save it.

The album uses a combination of three different vocalists, all of which are skilled in their respective areas. The contrast between Simen's and Lars' excellent clean vocals and Vintersorg's raspy, black metal vocals is superbly done at certain points on this album. The opening to "Epochalypse" has Simen and Lars join together in a wonderful duo. The same song also sees all three vocalists do a good job of working off of one another. Vintersorg and Lars take more charge vocally on this track, but Simen does have some moments to himself. This is easily one of the best tracks on the album, and does a good job of switching between vocalists in a seamless manner. The track itself also has some of the most powerful transitions from darkness to light. When Vintersorg has a moment to add to the dark atmosphere, the instruments suddenly become more intense and Lars joins in. These transitions are done very well, and add to the power that the song emits.

"Roots" is a track with its own powerful moments, but they are severely lacking in comparison to the power and energy of the first track. Simen gets to sing by himself for a bit on this track, but his vocals aren't anything stellar. His vocals on this album aren't as memorable as his vocal moments on Dimmu Borgir albums. They just don't catch the attention of the listener as much. "The Beauty of Dead Cities" feels like filler material. It's like the band let Simen have his own vocal moments on the track just so fans of his vocal style would buy the whole album. It's really not all that interesting, and makes the album slip slowly into mediocrity.

Fortunately, "The Earthling" gets the album back on track. The song takes a little bit to start gaining momentum, but once it does, it turns into another solid track on the album. Vintersorg comes in, and the song gains intensity very quickly. The song does slow down in some parts, but manages to add enough interesting moments to keep the song solid. The last vocal moment on this album is a powerful chant from Lars, and the track finishes up.

Next up is "The Plains of Memories" which is a rather bland interlude. It's a very slow song, and felt rather unnecessary. "Mount Regency" returns some energy to the album, and has some good moments of its own. "Frostrite" feels like another filler song, but does have a nice synthesizer solo at the end. "The Winter Eclipse" brings back much needed momentum, and all three vocalists do an excellent job of combining their forces. "In a Deeper World" finishes off the album decently. It's a more sluggish song, but Simen does have some impressive moments.

While the album does have some highlight moments, it still manages to fall flat. Only Borknagar fans should buy the whole album. For those of you who are newcomers interested in hearing the band, I recommend giving "Epochalypse", "The Earthling", and "The Winter Eclipse" a listen.

Black metal blended with power metal is the best way to describe Borknagar’s latest album Urd. In a nutshell, it has the distorted guitars and the type of drum tone that is typical with black metal, mixed with epic singing and musical compositions that is synonymous with power metal. But the singing isn’t all power metal, it switches to a echoing growl to really mix it up.

It’s like as though the singing brings the light within the songs, and the growls bring the darkness. Case in such, “Epochalypse.” For the most part, the music (mainly the drums) is constant, with only slight differences that transcends into the two singing styles, with the guitars on a tremolo picking binge. Some slight synths help build up the epic singing whenever it’s shown as well. It’s probably the best track of the album and is a great way to show exactly what these guys have to offer.

Starting off with a dismal mood setting guitar lick, “Roots” soon moves into minimal guitar, drums and piano driven music that then switches into rapid drumming. With certain musical hits that gives away the transition between the two singing styles before it, making this track pretty predictable. But predictable is good in their case, as one couldn’t see this type of music making anything too spastic. It would take away from the magic they make here. A high note guitar solo accompanies this song about three minutes forty five seconds into the track as well, which gives away into a beautiful guitar string strumming little ditty, which shows the vocals and drums working as one.

The song “The Earthling” moves at a doom metal pace with black metal guitar tone, along with droning singing that gives off an ambient setting. There’s lots of experimentation that you can tell the band was playing with in the studio, mainly in the random guitar notes and chords that seem thrown together, yet compliment each other perfectly.

This album isn’t for everyone, but it’s a great and wholly unique album nonetheless. The music is well written and very tightly composed. The random arrangement of other instruments, such as the violins in “The Plains Of Memories” and the piano in “Roots” without it all crossing over is unique in nature. If you’re an open minded individual, give this album a shot and see what you think.

After a decent, but poorly produced with flat results album called 'Universal', progressive black/avant-garde metallers Borknagar release a new record. Urd follows the path that Universal showed, but without its flaws, thus offering us a way superior effort which might be considered one of their best of the Vintersorg-era discography (just topped for Empiricism maybe...yup, maybe).

'Urd' features some trademark elements that the band has been using since the monumental 'The Olden Domain', being a great sense of melody, predominantly mid-paced, yet varied drumming, epic riffing, progressive and atmospheric keys, and versatile vocals. I'll refer to this last point in more depth since it's the strongest and newer aspect of the album.

This time around, ICS Vortex makes his return for good to the fold, providing bass and some of his best vocal lines ever. Thanks to Vortex, the album has a feel similar to The Archaic Course and Quintessence at times when he's doing the leads. Borknagar smartly gave sole songs to every singer and also mixed them in some others. Simen's songs are Frostrite (which has an ICS Vortex solo band feel) and the mighty 'In a Deeper World', with one of the most thrilling and emotional performances of his, closing the album in a similar way as with 'Winter Millemium' for 'The Archaic Course'.

Also, Lazare (from Solefald, who also did vocals for the excellent Asmegin debut) has more room to contribute with '70s-styled keyboards, but more importantly with his powerful and epic clean vocals, criminally underused since he joined the band in the 2000s. This time he does lead vocals for 'The Beauty of Dead Cities', sharing some lines with Vortex and doing an incredible job with his very 'Norwegian' accent. Also, he does some lines in 'Epochalypse' and provides choral support to Vintersorg and, in a lesser extent, to Vortex. All of this added to the powerful delivery of Vintersorg makes this album a delight in the vocal department.

Speaking of Vintersorg, the guy hasn't sounded this good since Empiricism. His vocals aren't nasal anymore like on Universal, and his performance is clear, potent, epic, and full of confidence. His best moment on the album comes at the end of 'The Earthling', a song that starts slow and quiet, building momentum until the most epic vocal section I've heard from Vintersorg since 'Inherit the Earth'. This time the man proves he is just as good as the other 2 monsters that he shares the vocal duties with. Also, he provides all grim vocals which sound as good as always and have been since Empiricism.

What about the rest of the band? Oystein Brun is the main songwriter, so most of the kudos go to him. He knows how to write a song that flows effortlessly, even using many tempo changes, acoustic breaks, harsh-clean vocals, prog elements, furious black metal riffs, and everything in between (Akerfeldt, I'm looking at you). Jens Ryland does all lead guitars and this time it seems like he had more room to land some epic leads. While he can shred, he prefers a more melodic approach to enhance the majestic feel of the songs. His leads can be heard thru and thru, just like in 'The Archaic Course' or 'Quintessence'.

Finally, the drumming of Dave Kinkade (now in Soulfly) is very, very good. He can play everything; fast & furious blastbeats, massive double bass, and tons of fills, but he can also play soft stuff and he can control himself quite well to let breathe the rest of the instruments. The only thing I don't like too much are some fills in 'In a Deeper World' that draw some force from the section when Vortex is providing his best and one certain fill that he seems to love that filled the whole 'Universal' album and is also present on 'Urd' here and there. Still, his performance is more straightforward, a thing that is a must on this album given the more streamlined approach of the songwriting.

As a last thing to mention, Borknagar has never sounded this good since their first albums. Jens Bogren did a magnificent job with the production.

As a summary, this album is excellent for the style the band performs. I thought they could never top Empiricism with Vintersorg as a frontman, but now I've been proven wrong. While I don't think the band is able to reach the godly level displayed in 'The Olden Domain', this album gives me hope that Borknagar can go forward and keep growing and releasing quality material.

Standout tracks: Epochalypse, Frostrite, In a Deeper World, The Winter Eclipse, and The Beauty of Dead Cities.

The first thing that popped in my mind upon listening to Borknagar’s newly released Urd was “where the hell has this Borknagar been for the past few albums?”. The last album by them that I truly enjoyed in its entirety was 2001′s fierce astral black metal masterpiece Empiricism, it was a precision blending of sharp, blackened riffs, thoughtful clean vocal melodies, and the strong keyboard driven atmospherics that have become their trademark. But the follow up albums seemed to forget the recipe to this formula; 2004′s Epic was a spotty affair, and 2010′s Universal was… I hate to say it, somewhat boring – barring a few songs that had some semblance of memorability. The stopgap all acoustic album, 2006′s Origins, was an interesting idea, and I so wanted to enjoy its execution, but sadly I found it lacking in strong songwriting and melodies. It seemed throughout this period that the band was inclined towards inheriting the proggy soundscapes of vocalist Vintersorg’s solo albums (of which I am a fan), but were unable to reconcile them with their traditionally earthy black metal foundations, often resulting in songs with overblown keyboard weirdness, lack of memorable melodies, and songwriting that wandered all over the place and could not keep its focus.

What Borknagar has done with Urd then, is a thorough addressing of all those deficiencies. This is a stunningly great record, devoid of filler tracks, and containing the most emotive and powerful songwriting of the band’s career to date. The keys here are in their efforts to refine and simplify their songwriting, as well as using a light touch when it comes to keyboard and studio engineered atmospherics. There seems to be a conscious effort to create strong, memorable melodies and revisit them in creative ways throughout the song without having to fall back on a standard verse-chorus-verse format — in a way they work more as motifs than hooks. In keeping with the title of the album, the sound here is grounded in a grittier, earthier style that seems more conducive in invoking imagery of the natural world. I always respected the band’s interest in cosmology, physics, and all other things science — but after four albums in a row of it, and its corresponding influence on their sound at the time, a change was direly needed. The stronger emphasis on clean vocals here is unexpected, but its the distribution of vocal talent throughout the record that is a greater surprise, as its not just the Mr. V show anymore but what appears to be a full on divvying up of the lead vocal duties between Vintersorg, ICS Vortex, and Lars Nedland, all of whom have a particular distinction to their vocal character.

There is nary a dip in momentum from start to finish, and the band should be commended for good decisions in track sequencing. There are a few highlights that stand above the rest however, beginning with “Roots”, one of the heaviest tracks on offer and perhaps the catchiest. The brief shift away from its fantastic chorus to launch into the epic of rush of speed metal drumming and classic tremolo sweeping riffs laid under chanting vocals at the 2:45 mark is so damn compelling you’ll find yourself rewinding to it over and over again. The epic on the album (not only in length) is the complex “The Winter Eclipse”, which juxtaposes crushingly heavy riffs and searing harsh-grim vocals by Vintersorg against all three vocalists joining in with clean vocal harmonization on the chorus. The absolute standout however has to be “The Earthling”, where the initial slow tempos and ethereal chanting give way to a furious blast of black metal fury that alternates with almost swinging guitar melodies — this all works its way up to a grand, sweeping finish at the 5:59 mark that is such a satisfyingly climactic payoff, its no wonder they decided to only include this part once and as a finale at that (I feel a lesser band would have employed it as a chorus).

This is the biggest surprise of the year so far, and a strong contender for album of the year. I’m happy I’m enjoying this so much and not ho-huming about it like the past few albums. Welcome back Borknagar.

-The Metal Pigeon (review originally appears at http://themetalpigeon.com/2012/04/02/borknagar-urd-gritty-earthy-epic/

“Urd” being my first encounter with the black/folk act Borknagar, I approached this album with mild trepidation and reluctant curiosity. I’m not one to praise black/folk metal, as I find it some of the cheesiest, least interesting type of metal there is; however, it goes around--usually--receiving good reviews and considerable admiration among metal circles. Perhaps this is because some think that if you can successfully fuse two completely separate genres into one, you’re incredibly talented and musically erudite; or perhaps they’ve simply gotten sick of the overly mimicked black metal sound and enjoy the certain amount of originality that if offers; whatever. Either way, it’s arguably revered quite heavily and Borknagar are sure to fall under that same radar. The band is currently comprised of six members, and this is their ninth studio album to date, having been formed in 1995 and since then been releasing only full-lengths sans one compilation album.

Borknagar do deserve praise in the sense that they know how to write interesting song structures. This is immediately clear after the first song, “Age of Creation,” rolls into view. With six members available to constantly contribute more ideas and suggestions for their songs, this is hardly surprising, but it’s something that Borknagar excel at. They seamlessly ebb and flow smoothly through different segments in their songs and keep the interest level in fairly respectable ground. Catchy pop melodies are quite common, especially in the choruses, and these are seen alongside occasional use of tremolo passages and some faster segments. Once these faster parts come along, the drummer injects fast double bass work that tumbles with the guitars. All of the instruments play a role in the album and a voluminous aesthetic is one of Borknagar’s main concerns, introducing lots of keyboards and other rather superfluous instruments quite often. The guitars are usually kept at a relatively slow pace (that's not to say always), strumming along lazily to predictable note progressions and melodic chords. Occasionally, as heard in the first song, an acoustic guitar will come into the table and soothe the listener into a calm, serene state that screams of what I’ll now call “pop” metal. None of this is any less than you should expect from a folk/black metal album, though, as these aspects are actually quite common in the genre.

A tendency to make more use of clean vocals than their raspy counterpart is unfortunately one of their music’s worst detriments. I’m not one to criticize a band for their vocals, but Borknagar’s long and drawn-out use of these gets honestly quite annoying after about the second song or so. They are, however, good at adding variation into their music and any listener who picks this up will not suffer from any sort of immense repetition and monotony. Unfortunately, there is just something about their music that doesn’t click with me, and I emerged well over the point of being underwhelmed; in fact, I did not like this album at all. I'm close to hating it, and halfway through the listening process, I felt tempted to toss it into the shredder. That being said, it should be mentioned that any fan of black/folk metal will absolutely love this, and I credit the band for not relying on only one style throughout the whole album. Oh, and on a side note, I absolutely hate that they decided to cover a terrible song from a band that I respect not in the slightest; yes, Metallica. I am shaking my head in utter disdain as I write these very words.

-SmithMetal84
http://ravenousreviewswebzine.blogspot.com/