Black Metal History- Ereb Altor : " Hälsingemörker

This Swedish band has more of a black metal history, than what they do at present. Their last album was great so let's see if they can maintain their creative momentum. They played a blackened pagan metal previously and things are being refined down to a sound that holds more in common with traditional metal on the opening track this time. There are touches of darker aggression. The second song is a more anthemic Viking drinking song, though, to the band's credit where most bands doing this sort of thing, there is too much of a rousing frolic, where they guys keep a darker tension chugging under them. 

"Attestupan" chugs along a middle ground without really breaking into any new sounds for them. It's melodic and works, but does not wow me. More black metal possesses their sound with more overt aggression driving "Vi Ar Morkret" Though it blasts by and even with the cleanly sung vocals being the main narrative of the song it does not really stick to my ears, but seems effective enough. The snarled vocals and more deliberate groove of the drumming really help out "Traldom". "The Wand the Sky, the Pyre" finds the bass taking the reins and giving the song a darker, heavier throb the rest of the band falls behind until building things up intense sonic swell. 

"The Last Step" closes the album with its triumphant gallop. Scowled vocals do come in, and they pass in and out of the album, though the singing is typically the main vocal. When they are locked into this kind of epic gallop it gives things more of a Tyr sound. I'll give this album an 8.5, for my tastes it's not that dark, and bent on being big and epic, but it's well done, and power metal fans who want to pretend they are into black metal might enjoy this. Fans of Pagan metal are the big winners here as that is what they are delivering in full. 

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Ereb Altor : " Vargtimman"

 The pagan metal label could fall into many sub genres, power metal, folk metal and black metal all being contenders. The Swedish band gallops with epic triumph into things on the first rack that owes more to power metal. It is however a little darker, so this works for me, this darker feel even leans into doom going into the second song. Along with the tremolo picked guitar and switch over into more scowling vocals black metal is also a shade being used here. Two minutes in and things break down into more of a tense chant before the dynamic flips back to big chords. When it flips into more snarled vocals there is more of a black metal feel, but the song itself is pretty cohesive. 

There is almost an Iron Maiden feel to "Fenris". The vocals are not belted in that style, but the mood is minus the more mournful vocal harmonies.   The vocals feel more emotive and less dramatic than Dickinson. "Rise of the Destroyer" find the pace picked up by the drive of double bass. This also finds it conforming more to what you expect of today's metal. There is a more folk tinged sway to "Alvablot".  It waltzes into some pretty standard vicing metal triumph but works well.  There are some theatrics leading into "Den dighra Doden". Which has more of a mid-paced throb that reminds me a little of Primordial.  A little of theatrics goes a long way as it can kill a song's momentum, and this is coming from someone who loves King Diamond.  

"Ner i Morkret" is a little less focused and at times falls closer to what their peers do. Though it is almost hard to fault them because it is so dynamic."Heimdal's Horn" balances out atmosphere, melody and the big Lord of the Rings scale of sound captured here. I will give this one a 9.5 and see how it sits with me as the year unfold, one of the best albums of this kin I have heard in some time. This is being released on Hammerheart Records.  

Ereb Altor : " Jartecken" :

The Swedish band's 8th album find them continuing to lean in a more blackened version of viking metal. Melody is a strong component to their song structure. The way the sung vocals are used reminds me a little of Dimmu Borgir. Meaning the emphasis is on epic. "Queen of the Seas" gets swept away in the raging waters of it's epic nature. It is well done but as a song it doesn't hook me in like the first.  We begin to see the bipolar nature of this album, with the more straight up black metal of " Alliance in Blood" . They are into reinventing the wheel when it comes to black metal , but it is very well done and not just blast beats. To their credit the songs are very compactly written and focused . "Chained" starts off almost like old school metal, some where between thrash and power metal, more thrashing when the snarling vocals come in. It is one of the hookiest songs thus far.

"My Demon Inside" is in a more black metal direction, but not as much as the more ripping "Prepare For War" . This one almost sounds like 1349, though more thrash and less blast. There is a wide range of various metal styling these guys dip into. Pagan black metal is the best sub-genre to describe them. They go from black metal into more epic folk tinged songs that are not a dramatic as say Tyr and tend to trade off between the sung vocals and the growled vocals. The first time I really pay attention to the bass is on "With Fire in My Heart". The folk tinged melody works well for this more mid paced song.

The album closes with "And Blood on My Hand" . This feels more like an outro than a song in and of itself. I will round this down to a 8.5. For black metal it is a little middle of the road though I do appreciate the sense of melody and song writing. I guess it could just be a little darker. These guys are great musicians and if you are a fan then this album will live up to what you want from these guys , since they are already hard to pin down in that department so it gives them plenty of room to try different things.

7.1