BORKNAGAR

This debut album is perhaps the rawest of all by Borknagar. Together with the debut album by Enslaved, In the woods and Ulver,I call them the big four debut albums of progressive back metal. They are also pretty influental for people that are coming from the progressive corner and want to embrace more of extreme metal. The gents were young but showed potential by combining folk and Viking elements apart from normal black metal.

Each track has a melody and motive.

The first track is perhaps the rawest one with starting shrieking and blasting without any previous warning so be warned ;-). The second track is symphonic and a bit pompeous with keyboards and electronic drums.

Having strong chord sequences with slightly bleak mood is another strong weapon here. Although Borknagar do not yet show normal clean vocals other than harmonies, these sound promising.

This is a great album for any black or Viking metal but will not appeal to many proggers due to its brutality and lack of progressivity although it shows potential and ambitions.