QUINTESSENCE

Borknagar has achieved their trademark sound as we know if for most of the time on that album. The line-up has changed again, keybords and drums were it for this time. Despite this, the band sounds tight and players well aligned. Borknagar has by this time turned into a all-around metal beast manifesting black metal as well as death metal and progressive traces.

The band got heavier after delivering quite a polished third album.

The start of the album is powerful with a mighty long multiple shriek however, the sound of Hammond and warm vocals will soon remind us that this is above the usual metal league. Vocals have been more elaborated than on this album. "The presence is ominous" has a more memorable motives with semi-prog keyboard synths and prog/death intensive drumming with high and normal vocal. Great level of complexity for a black metal band.

"Ruins of the future" is a Viking black-metal track with ominous guitars and shrieks. The instrumental part with synths and keyboards is brilliant.

"Inner landscape" has undeniably influence in classical or progressive-rock music but that only holds for the keyboards, drums and bass are rather straight rock. "Invicible" and "Genesis torn" are argubly the heaviest tracks on the album with both death-metal and black metal bloody beat-up ;)

The latter has no similarities to the progressive Genesis, on the album with complex drumming, I also like growls that are pretty advanced, maybe slightly hardcore style influenced.

A small epic comes in the end, there is a even a good guitar solo and multiple shifts with clean vocals and growling and top notch drumming.