The every controversial Norwegian black metal project , does not concede to anyone , and returns with their 8th full length. The title translates to " a sea of distance". The four songs songs are sprawling affairs, yet do not conform to the sonic confines of the black metal genre, while still delivering what it's fans want. The guitar buzz with tremolo picked tension, yet find a great deal of ebb and flow that keeps the clamor of the almost 12 minute opener moving with a fluid darkness. It is a rather bright and organic sounding album they have have just plugged in and nailbed everything in a one take jam. Except for the fact master mind Hoest is a one man band. Which is surprising as I fully expect the live band to play this thanks to the very raw nature of things.
The second song feels like they picked up where they left off on the first song. There are a few nuances in terms of how the guitar attacks the drone. The vocals have more of a hard core chant to them. Some interesting sonic chord voicings midway into this sprawling abyss of song , which to Hoest's credit this song has more compositional merit than the entire new Blut Aus Nord album. There is an odd angular shift to the pulse of the riff, without the song being dependent on riffs. The blasting of "Gid Sprakk Vi" which translates roughly to we burst, maintains the savage status quo of black metal. It works for what it is , but I have higher expectations for Hoest who in the past has brought in banjos.
The last song throb of perhaps the album's most memorable guitar melody. Though it still buzzes with the same tremolo picked feel there is just a darker quivering to it's cadence. I will give this album a 9, which says a lot because I do not like long songs that drone on, but it's a better score than their past few albums have gotten here, as they all clocked in around 8.5, I credit the improvement to generally not conforming to expectations but still caring about writing songs.
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