Fenris kindir

The Swedish one man band Arckanum returns with its eighth full length album, Fenris Kindir. Those who are familiar with Shamaatae’s recent output under the Arckanum moniker will not be surprised what they hear. As usual, he infuses second wave black metal with a hint of Gothenburg melodeath culminating in riffs that are fast paced and abrasive, yet subtly melodic. The vocals are rough, gravely snarls that are strongly pronounced in the mix. The drumming is typical black metal fare, marked by a healthy dose of blast beats. There are a few moments where the drumming really stands out (i.e. the thunderous stop-start blast beat in the penultimate passage of “Hatarnir”) but for the most part, it’s a workman like performance.

Though Shamaatae is working with fairly familiar material, he really manages to botch most of this record. To begin with, the riffs are slightly below Arckanum’s usual standard, but where Fenris Kindir really comes up short is in the songwriting department. The songs are brief—ranging from two to four-and-a-half minutes. Arckanum has never been a band known for long epics, but this time out Shamaatae cuts the tracks a little too thin. As a result, most of the songs lack identity. By and large, Fenris Kindir feels more like a series of similar but unconnected riffs that fail to link together into actual songs. “Hatarnir” and “Spell” are the exceptions; the riffs are quality and there are enough shifts in tempo to keep you on your toes, but the rest of the album is rather nebulous.

Then there are the frills: brief passages colored by ghostly fiddles, shrill shamanic chants and ominous field recordings. All of these elements are aesthetically pleasing—especially the fiddles which have a crystalline tone—but ultimately, these passages suffer the same fate as their metallic counterparts. They are never weaved into fluid compositions and consequently stand as mere interludes between the black metal tracks. Perhaps that would be sufficient if the black metal tracks were not so transitory themselves. And there lies the fatal flaw of Fenris Kindir: it consists of a series of parts that fail to congeal into holistic compositions and in turn, a series of songs that fail to culminate in a cohesive album. The sheer quality of some of the cooler passages makes this worth one or two listens for fans of the band, but beyond that, this is an inconsequential release.

Originally written for Deafsparrow.com