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Allegiance > Blodörnsoffer > Reviews
Allegiance - Blodörnsoffer

Hail storm of exceptional severity - 78%

Felix 1666, August 22nd, 2018
Written based on this version: 1997, CD, No Fashion Records

M-A says that the status of the band is "unknown", but this seems to be a euphemistic statement. It's a fact that Allegiance did not release any new material during the last 19 years. Even 30 years ago, Mister Dickinson told us that only the good die young and this might be the reason why he and me are still living, but honestly speaking, I wish also the good would reach a high age. Enigmatic doctrines aside, "Blodörnsoffer", which is kicked off by a nice, stage-setting intro and finished by the second part of this atmospheric piece, does not mark a monumental milestone in the history of Swedish black / death metal and it should not compare itself with the debut. Nevertheless, genre fans are well advised to lend an ear, because the band presents passion, vitality and robustness.

The Scandinavians plough through heavy soil. Their songs spread the smell of hard work. Soft guitar interludes give the listener the occasion to gasp for breath, but the songs themselves are characterized by viscous, thunderous and almost lumbering riffs and lines. The pretty smooth flow of some parts of "En svunnen tid" remain an isolated case. By the way, this excellent, partly wistful yet extremely heavy song marks the climax of the material due to its effective opening riff and the brutal beauty of the melody that appears after four minutes. Too bad that there are no further tracks which reach the formidable quality of this song. The remaining material sounds angry (or even very angry like the title track), powerful and it does not lack high-speed eruptions. To give but one example, wide parts of "Heimdal" pray to the God of velocity. However, it bares its teeth without suffering from any signs of fatigue, but one has to realize that the band itself had set the bar very high with its outstanding first full-length.

Not very transparent, but lumpy, vehement and uncompromising, that's how the album's sound can be described. Too bad that the word "dull" also fits the context, too. Meteorologists would probably speak of a hail storm of exceptional severity and this means that its appearance limits visibility. No, the sound does not fully meet my taste, because it lacks clarity and precision. I don't want to complain too much, because it does not drive the album into the ground, by far not. Even the bass is audible and we know that this is sometimes no matter of course. Yet it would have been fine to listen to a better defined sound. However, the balance between the vocals and the instruments gives no reason to lament. The hateful nagging does not steal the show from the instrumentalists and vice versa. Okay, the throaty style of singing of the lead vocalist borders on monotony, but this kind of music does not ask for virtuoso opera singers.

For sure, Allegiance do not make great mistakes, but a great opening riff like that of "Korpen skall leda oss" would have deserved a better continuation. This song represents an example of the lack of catchiness and sharpness that prevents a higher rating, although there are some very strong instrumental sections as well. But I don't want to look for the fly in the ointment - and I wish the status of Allegiance would change into "active".

One of the best Swedish BM albums ever!!!!! - 95%

dismember_marcin, October 13th, 2011

Truly this must be one of the most underestimated bands from Sweden, one which - despite having three excellent albums - haven't been noticed much and nowadays isn't even known to many (newer) fans. This is a shame, if you ask me, because the quality of Allegiance music is better than the one from 99% of albums of different bands. More so, Allegiance had this advantage of having B.War and Friedrik from the good, old Marduk line up, from "Heaven Shall Burn" era (the best period in Marduk's history???). Anyway, I've already written some words about the band's debut LP, "Hymn Till Hangagud", now it's time to praise their second full length album, "Blodörnsoffer".

Originally recorded - in Abyss Studios, if you have any doubts - and released in 1997, these are 50 minutes of the most devastating and bestial black metal you can imagine. Or maybe I should write viking metal, as this is what Allegiance initially have played or rather talked about in their lyrics, but viking metal is not a label for specific sound, rather for certain theme in the lyrics. Nowadays the term "viking metal" is considered to be happy and cheerful, sing along music, not something so vicious and relentless. But this is exactly how "Blodörnsoffer" sounds like, starting with "Med Svärd I Hand", till the very end, it is destructive avalanche of fast black metal riffing that will ultimately stick in your head and force you to join the madness.

If you think of bands like Dissection, Vinterland and Marduk (from "Opus Nocturne" and "Heaven Shall Burn" era), maybe also with some similarities to the atmosphere from "Frost" and "Eld" LPs by Enslaved, then these four bands would be the ones I could compare Allegiance music to. It is fast and uncompromising, but it is also damn melodic in many parts. Some riffs have great catchiness, occasionally also the band puts an acoustic ("Likbal") or keyboard interruption, but usually they only underline the epic atmosphere and are nothing more than a calm before the storm. And also to avoid the monotony in the music, you'll get hit also by such tracks as "En Svunnen Tid", almost slow or mid paced, very melodic, with some nice sounding guitar leads. But even then the music of Allegiance sounds aggressive and has so much energy that it fills you from the very first second... Finally if you listen to "Yggdrasil", which is another mid paced song, then I think you may spot some classic thrash metal or even heavy metal influenced riffs there. So, in the end, even though the whole impression on the album is that it's very fast and energetic, it also doesn't avoid being more melodic and epic. Oh, I almost forgot also to point out how great are the vocals of Mr. Bogge, known also as B.War! His vocals or rather screams are excellent, very furious and maniacal. And maybe his vocal lines are not that diverse, as he rather uses just this one kind of screaming, but that's not a problem and in the end it fits the music perfectly. Mind that all lyrics have been written in Swedish - which I have no problems with, I like the sound of this language and it sounds great in black metal, but I would love to have the translations, as I always like to know what the band sings about.

All in all, this is great album. If I ever had to mention five of my favourite Swedish black metal albums, this one would be on this list for sure, together with the likes of "The Somberlain", "Welcome My Last Chapter", "Ancient God of Evil" and "Heaven Shall Burn" (I would put Bathory in totally different category, the Master has no rivals).

Best song: They're all great