Nargaroth
Amarok
[No Colours]
Nargaroth's second CD release on No Colours, "Amarok", is one of those "odds 'n' ends" releases record companies are so fond of shoveling out during the three-year gap between albums that's become the industry standard lately. This one's pretty worthwhile, though - six tracks clocking in at 73 minutes of all previously-unreleased material.
Amarok kicks off with the track "Herbstleyd", taken from the promo; according to the liner notes it's a different version from what appeared on the album proper. Funny, though, it sounds pretty damn close to what was on "Herbstleyd", except for the 8-minute intro which does not appear here. Excellent brooding, contemplative, epic black metal in the vein of mid-era Burzum, newer Graveland, Osculum Infame, etc. but with Kanwulf's own sick vocal screeches and the occasional blasting section. Next up is a cover of Burzum's "Black Spell of Destruction" - faithful, but even with the carbon-copy vocals it somehow sounds less than inspired; it's good, but it just misses the mark by lacking that special something to make it great.
Next up are two tracks from the "Herbstleyd" demo from 1993, "Shall We Begin" and "Into the Void". "Shall We Begin" begins with some heavy, creeping guitar work before blasting forth in a declaration of black metal war. Here some Darkthrone influence creeps in, sticking with the minimalist ideal of building atmosphere through cycling two or three main riffs. This influence is even more prominent on "Into the Void", using fast melodic strumming over a slow drumbeat in sort of a half-time version of Transilvanian Hunger.
Finally are two old studio tracks previously unreleased: "Amarok: Zorn des Lammes Part II" (no source cited) and "As the Stars Took Me With 'em" (said to be from the "Orke LP '91" - does anyone know what this is?). Part II of the Amarok song trilogy is a 23-minute piece and much like the other parts is rather unique among the rest of Nargaroth's material. There is an unusual beauty and melancholy in the music, beginning with the clean guitar riff starting off the song - it's contemplative but still sinister, building towards an explosion of somber fast strumming (again in the mid-Darkthrone vein). "As the Stars..." is another 20-minute-plus expression in the minimalist vein. This time, though, there is just a lone droning guitar and the shrieked vocals of Kanwulf, later moving to some very sparse, cosmic-sounding dreamlike sound effects which close out the last minutes of this song and album.
Overall, though a bit tedious towards the end, the spirit of the more contemplative and introspective side of black metal permeates this release, and it provides an interesting counterpoint to what would ultimately come next from Kanwulf...
© 2001 lord vic
Amarok kicks off with the track "Herbstleyd", taken from the promo; according to the liner notes it's a different version from what appeared on the album proper. Funny, though, it sounds pretty damn close to what was on "Herbstleyd", except for the 8-minute intro which does not appear here. Excellent brooding, contemplative, epic black metal in the vein of mid-era Burzum, newer Graveland, Osculum Infame, etc. but with Kanwulf's own sick vocal screeches and the occasional blasting section. Next up is a cover of Burzum's "Black Spell of Destruction" - faithful, but even with the carbon-copy vocals it somehow sounds less than inspired; it's good, but it just misses the mark by lacking that special something to make it great.
Next up are two tracks from the "Herbstleyd" demo from 1993, "Shall We Begin" and "Into the Void". "Shall We Begin" begins with some heavy, creeping guitar work before blasting forth in a declaration of black metal war. Here some Darkthrone influence creeps in, sticking with the minimalist ideal of building atmosphere through cycling two or three main riffs. This influence is even more prominent on "Into the Void", using fast melodic strumming over a slow drumbeat in sort of a half-time version of Transilvanian Hunger.
Finally are two old studio tracks previously unreleased: "Amarok: Zorn des Lammes Part II" (no source cited) and "As the Stars Took Me With 'em" (said to be from the "Orke LP '91" - does anyone know what this is?). Part II of the Amarok song trilogy is a 23-minute piece and much like the other parts is rather unique among the rest of Nargaroth's material. There is an unusual beauty and melancholy in the music, beginning with the clean guitar riff starting off the song - it's contemplative but still sinister, building towards an explosion of somber fast strumming (again in the mid-Darkthrone vein). "As the Stars..." is another 20-minute-plus expression in the minimalist vein. This time, though, there is just a lone droning guitar and the shrieked vocals of Kanwulf, later moving to some very sparse, cosmic-sounding dreamlike sound effects which close out the last minutes of this song and album.
Overall, though a bit tedious towards the end, the spirit of the more contemplative and introspective side of black metal permeates this release, and it provides an interesting counterpoint to what would ultimately come next from Kanwulf...
© 2001 lord vic