Gothtober Ofdrykkja : "After the Storm"

 

During the Gothtober series I try to show a wide spectrum of sub-genres within the goth scene. Noe folk being one that is receiving lots of rise, given the success of Heilung , who keeps playing larger venues. Here is one from Sweden whose haunting sound is dark enough to belong here. The first track works off more ambiance, leaving the second piece to prove they can actually write songs and not just make the most of ancient sounds.  Leaning on the feel of folk melodies, this is not the hookiest of song, but if you are getting high and chilling it would make a nice backdrop. 

"the Mare" continues to find atmosphere and mood at the center of their focus. Spoken male vocals join the more ethereal female vocal to ground it a little. The first song that really resonates with me is the title track that finds them weaving a very memorable melody that flows well with the minimal folk instrumentation. Unlike Heilung, they are not going for an aggressive tribal feel. They flow really well on ""the Cleansing" as the vocal take on a lower goth croak. Everything is well layered and sounds great. The six track just sounds like a jammed-out extension of the previous song.  

The last song is more of a guided meditation outro piece. The sounds created work really well, but I wish there was more song focus on this album, since we they do chose to focus on songs the results are great. Hopefully future releases will find them growing into the song side of what they do as those were pretty impress and could place them as peers of bands like Wardruna. AS things stand now, a little more atmosphere and mood than song, so I will give this album a 7.5.  Fans of Neo-folk take not as it is not the most prolific sub-genre. 

Kampfar : "Profan"

Taking another step away from their black metal roots, Kampfar come right out of the gate on the first song they employ sung vocals that are layered over the growls. They do lean into a more straight forward almost classic metal approach with "Profanum", before blasting for a minute before a thrashing bridge. But falls short of living up to the bar the first song set. "Icons'" was the first single off this album, for I suppose whatever radio station in Europe plays Kampfar. It has the kind of blackened thrash that Vreid engages in. But this is not really opening as many or any new doors for the band like the first song promised.

They find some redemption in the groove that "Skavank" finds, before racing off. Without a doubt the drummer is on point. They also found a pretty mighty metal guitar tone, so the album sounds great, it might just not be as well written as their last one. More sung yet almost croaked vocals emerge on "Skavank". "Daimon" finds the band in a darker place, almost Behemoth like. Lower sung vocals chant before the pick up the pace. The chorus is more sung before the blast mcnasties come in. Some of the more classic metal sensibilities emerge amid the blast beats of "Pole in the Ground". The tom pound agains the more sonic build is one of the song's best moments. It pushes the album into a darker and more melodic direction.

"Tornekratt" has a more modern black metal feel to it. It could almost be one of the more aggressive moments on the new Deafheaven. Then a more Emperor elements hover in with the vocals giving a more dramatic flare to flare. They eventually come across more shouted than screamed , before transitioning into being actually sung, think Sentenced here. Overall the album is aggressive and sounds great, they eventually rise to the occasion and live up to the greatness of the first song. I'll round this one up to an 8.5 as they challenged themselves on many occasions here and do not let the boundaries of black metal confine them.