Hour of Ragnarok

Ah, we all already forgot when Graveland made us happy with something really new: for the previous eight years, Rob Darken was too busy offering us his old works in new packing, i. e. with modern arrangement. Well, modernization is also a big deal, maybe. But "Hour of Ragnarok" is finally an actual new album.

So what do we have here? The label press release assures us that this is "music from the beginning of the history of Graveland," but in this case we can hardly speak of "returning to the roots." Well, if you manage to make out the guitar parts, then, of course, there is no doubt, this is the same good old Graveland with wintry minimalist riffs, warlike and atmospheric at the same time. The problem is that if there is any guitar aggressiveness on this album, then it is safely buried under a thick layer of keyboards. Graveland's previous "true" album, "Thunderbolts of the Gods" (2013), is pure guitar work compared to "Hour of Ragnarok".

Yes, keyboards are the cornerstone of the new Graveland album. They sound almost constantly. From the very first song, "The Wolf of Twilight", solemn and epic melodies, often dominated by folklore motifs, descend upon us. Sometimes even a pagan dance reigns in the songs (especially check out "Enlighted by the Wisdom of Runes"). We scarcely know what to say, it seems that Darken was so eager to transfer the pagan atmosphere for reenactors, who maybe seem to be more real pagans than his fellow musicians / black metallers, that he almost forgot about the metal component of his music. Of course, Graveland did not turn into Lord Wind, another Darken's project, but we can say that the "great merger" has begun. It is worth mentioning. that once upon a time Graveland and Lord Wind could not even be compared to one another.

Sometimes the guitar is given the chance to make itself known without the control of the keyboards, like in the beginning of "Hour of Ragnarok", this is the first appearance. However, that rarely happens, as if the keyboards are afraid to leave the guitar alone. Therefore, most often the riffs cannot be made out very clearly, you can only hear the buzzing of distortion from the guitars, while a distortion sound is not sharp or razor-sharp at all. Most likely, the synthesizer part duplicates the guitar part, so the guitar only pulses somewhere in the background. And, of course, there is no solos or licks, right, this is Graveland. Damn interesting, what would "Hour of Ragnarok" sound like without keyboards? Isn't the absence of sensible guitar riffs hidden behind the keyboards? the absence of really new guitar riffs? Let's hope it's not true at all, in the meantime, it remains to deal with what we hear.

It must be reluctantly acknowledged that the drums also perform an auxiliary function, although they are still audible on not so rare blast beat sections – submerged of course, as is common in old-school raw black metal. Everything is strictly according to the canons. By the way, you can tell from the drum sound that the production on the album is fairly clean (pay attention to the beginning of "Conspiracy of the Wizards" with intense fills), but the whole sound was processed in such a way as if the recording was made in the 90s. That's right, the muffled guitar and squashed bass (although sometimes the bass humming seems to be more noticeable than the guitar distortion) were handled deliberately poorly.

Because of these "peculiarities" of the album's sound, there is often a feeling that a metal foundation has been shoved under the building of the music of, for example, Mortiis – and this is how "Hour of Ragnarok" was created. Summoning, of course, is also remembered often (the most striking example is the beginning of "Children of Hyperborea"): in some measure this album is a kind of amalgam of classic Summoning and Graveland itself, which was mixed in modern conditions with retro imitation. And when guitars manage to force their way through the keyboard thickness, you can draw a parallel with the Viking Bathory material, but there are not many such moments (check "The Wolf of Twilight" and "Enlighted by the Wisdom of Runes"). There are far more sections in which the music of Graveland resembles the soundtrack of "Game of Thrones", most of all it is noticeable in the same song "Children of Hyperborea".

The vocals are the same old, Rob Darken's signature harsh and grating vocals. There are a lot of lyrics on the album, the voice attack continues continuously, ah, as if compensating for the lack of metal. In truth, it is the vocals most often that make the listener believe that they are listening to Graveland. But when Darken begins to sing in a clear voice ("Children of Hyperborea", "Following the Azure Light"), then you are inevitably lost. Nevertheless, these strange vocal pats sound very impressive and epic.

By a strange coincidence, the most interesting song is the last one, "River of Tears". Although it starts out as some pompous ambient piece, soon metal takes over the lead, and we hear a groovy rousing riff. In fact, it is the most guitar section on the entire album. Alas, as before, the guitar eventually loses its ground. But this is followed by an interesting rhythmic breakdown – militant, in some way completely uncharacteristic for the entire album. However, in any case, this is folk metal, this is pagan metal, and there is no black metal as such.

Summary. Those who expected a true return to their roots will no doubt be disappointed with "Hour of Ragnarok". This cannot be called a return: it is like watching the previously mentioned "Game of Thrones" instead of a classic black-and-white film. Well, nobody says "Game of Thrones" is bad, new time means new laws. But this is not a classic. For now, anyway. So "Hour of Ragnarok" is rather a (yet another) incarnation, not a return. It will not be possible to find any musical progress here either, right, this is Graveland. Nevertheless, Darken worked well, the album is listened to, as they say, in one breath. These are indeed pagan hymns. The question is solely about the keyboards, whether this is good or bad for you.

The Metal Observer