Ulykke

Repetitive, atmospheric black metal has kind of been run into the ground in recent years. Lots of bands basically do the same thing and kind of get away with it because it ends up being sort of pleasant background music. Now I don't say that black metal has to be offensive and into your face, black metal is capable of being many things but who really wants just to create pleasant background music? I sure as hell do not.

Angantyr to me is one of the main post classic era black metal bands that knows what atmospheric black metal should be like. On albums like Haevn, Ynleborgaz(the mastermind behind the band) reaches heights that only the truly great can achieve. Ulykke is the 6th offering from his hands and mind under the Angantyr banner and once again he delivers something familiar yet still special. The basic formula of the band is seemingly simple yet somehow I have not heard anyone else do it. It boils down to combining folkish black metal a la Enslaved and Kampfar with DSBM. I have to get out of the way first of all that I am not a fan of DSBM. However this mixture combined with Ynleborgaz superb sense for melody, riffcraft and songwriting creatures something very stirring and emotional. He does this with only a couple riffs and changes per song yet every single riff is memorable and every change serves nothing but stir the imagination.

However there are some issues with this album, basically Ynleborgaz has been making the same kind of music with the same kind of production for a rather long time now and sadly this is starting to show. While there are still some incredible moments and songs on this album. Some parts of this album, while not exactly uninspired, do strike me as something Angantyr has done before and has done better. This gives me the feeling that this album marks the end of the line in terms of creativity for Angantyr. This specific sound has now been thoroughly explored both in terms of songwriting as well as making it sound as good as possible.

I might sound a bit negative with that final passage but still this is a very good album, I can't think of many bands that release albums on a level as high as Ulykke 6 albums deep into their career. It just might be time to call it a day, if so this would be a fitting and powerful farewell.