A Clash Under the Northern Wind

Technically just a long single, Rimfrost released A Clash Under the Northern Wind as an EP shortly after the 2016 self-titled effort and haven’t included it anywhere else just yet. In that sense it’s interesting, since ‘Clash’ at once takes the credit of being Rimfrost’s longest song and only real single, seeing as the two album tracks from the recent Expedition: Darkness were tossed out as perfunctory downloads without any extra material. You would probably expect something epic from this 11 minute monster, and you’d mostly be right.

Having made a career in doing extreme music in a more accessible way, I hardly find it surprising that this song makes light work of its great length. The band should be praised for the great dynamics that play with pace and intensity to allow the song to continue flowing forwards without really troubling itself with structure, while the epic elements are an obvious winner when singing about such a theme as this. Mild keyboard use builds ambience, though the significant addition to the march of the main riff proves to be the horns that belch out from the chorus sections, making ‘Clash’ seem like a victory in all its glory. One should also not forget that the clean interlude in the middle of the song never becomes merely a rest, playful guitars building up tension before the charge in the latter half.

As with everything from the recent line-up of Rimfrost, those hoping for extremity will leave sorely disappointed, this song barely getting even to double bass levels of heaviness and floating ahead at times. Nevertheless, for anyone into the mood of victorious pagan or black metal, A Clash Under the Northern Wind should be a pleasant way to time your coffee break.