Et hav av avstand

I have to confess that despite this project being fairly old in the game, Taake has evaded me up until but for the name. So I merely listened to this by pure chance, because they happened to release this album at the same time as Marduk's Memento Mori, and I guess I wanted a point of reference between these two albums. I was very positively surprised. This has absolutely nothing to do with either Marduk or any prevailing ideas of cliché Norwegian (or Swedish) black metal either. Instead I was invited to listen to sublime songwriting that spun long threads of themes and melodies into seemingly endless expansions landing us in rather proggy domains, occasionally flirting with black'n'roll and folky melodies.

Make no mistake, Taake stands firmly on a black metal foundation, but what is done here is taking anything that even resembles a tired black metal cliché and infusing it with new musical syntax. It's done very impressively, I can't really think of a black metal band that does something similar, other than perhaps incidental likenesses to other Norwegian bands like Ulver or Dødheimsgard who have taken the genre and run off with it in very different directions. Perhaps a more fitting comparison would be to imagine Necroticism-Carcass, with their similarly labyrinthine melody-leaning expansions of long riffs, undergoing black baptism. But really, there isn't much else that sounds like this to my knowledge. The only properly and purely black ingredient would be Hoest's vocal style.

To try to explain it from a musical theoretical perspective, the harmonic point of departure doesn't stem from a strict keynote, but rather, the tonic of the pieces keep shifting, which creates a dizzying, convoluted and at all times surprising musical journey, keeping the listener on the edge of the chair. Rhythmically, this is paired with uneven time signatures and cyclic repetitions stretching over many bars. Perhaps a bit like an Indian raga, but way less intricate. The rhythm section never moves outside of a rather comfortable mid-tempo, or at the most, a heavy metal up-tempo beat.

What is even more impressive is how Hoest manages to hold ones attention despite the minimal use of instruments. Guitar(s), bass and drums are all being used very transparently, and the mix doesn't hide or cover anything, something which makes the transpositions feel like broad daylight vivisection. All functions are laid bare and put on display translucently. And still, despite the lucidity, the sheer mass of song material can feel overpowering, and the monotonous tempo doesn't support the listener in any way to get around the long structured songs (there are allegedly four of them, spread out over 42 minutes). The fact that the two first tracks are only separated by track numbers and song titles adds to the density. This is in fact one super-song with overlapping musical ideas, which begs a fully concentrated 23 minutes of the listener. And so, Et hav av avstand is in equally measures demanding as it is rewarding.

The point of reference we may have for a band is an interesting topic. I might have heard Taake before and not have stuck with what I heard. Or I might have reflected differently upon what I hear on this album if I would have compared it to earlier Taake releases. With my current absolutely fresh approach, I cannot tell you whether or not this is a good Taake album, but I can say as much as that my first encounter with Hoest's project has made me curious to check out more of his stuff. This was one of 2023's happiest discoveries for me!

It’s about damn time!! After a very prolonged 6 years and with teases in the form of splits, the mighty Taake is finally back with his eight LP 'Et hav av avstand'. One of the few and truly outstanding flag bearers of “true Norwegian black metal”, Taake has remained uncompromised and unrelenting after a substantial three decade spanning career. So, with all that preamble out of the way, what has good old Hoest brought to the table this time around? Is it more of the same, an unorthodox swerve, or a bit of both?

For starters and most importantly for any adept of the “trve kvlt” this is indeed and unmistakably Taake through and through. If you want cold, hateful riffs, screeching vocals with grunts that will make Tom G. Warrior nod in approval, Hoest’s got you covered, as all the major trademarks of Taake’s classic sound are here and then some. Speaking of that, this is the most refined, technical and even ambitious Taake album since 'Noregs vaapen', even the production quality shares that same crisp sound where every instrument is audible, but with a bit more grit so as to keep with the overall harsh and mournful sound. The obvious feature of this album being more technical and ambitious is the song lengths. 4 tracks and most of them are over 10 minutes long. Now Hoest is no stranger to long songs, almost all of his albums, barring three have had songs with that length, but this is the first time three quarters of an album exceed the 10 minute mark and for some people that can be the best thing ever, or a sign of absolute self-indulgence, but this is where the album is truly outstanding, as Hoest’s songwriting is at a level where he can make songs this long, keep them engaging and dynamic while also standing firmly into his Norwegian black metal roots and essence. That being said, this album doesn’t have overt folk instrumentation, and no banjo solo, but this record really doesn’t need bells and whistles, as Hoest was able to use the bare minimum to make a very compelling album.

From a musical perspective this is indeed the most progressive Taake album yet. Aside from the very long song lengths, each song’s composition is very dynamic with shifting time signatures and multiple sections to either create and enhance an atmosphere, or as a break between harsh blast beats. A significant element that Hoest has been adding to his music for the past 2 albums which he perfected on 'Et hav av avstand' is how he experiments with both trad metal melodicism and elements of goth music and post-punk. Particularly in how he leans into morose harmonies and atmospheric passages, and in this record you will hear some of Hoest’s best guitar and bass work, as he seamlessly switches between Iron Maiden-esque riffing and Mercyful Fate inspired soloing to some excellent gothic, melodic passages that are appropriately melancholic and dejected without veering into cheesy excesses as the music even on it’s more depressive moments remains firmly in the realms of black metal and the album is fierce from beginning to end. The opening track ‘Denne forblaaste ruin av en bro’ is an excellent sampler of all the album’s strengths and an outstanding mood setter. If this 11 minute mammoth doesn’t have you hooked by the 3 minute mark then I don’t know what will.

However, while Hoest does indulge into his non-metal influences for this record, before the end he still proves he can make vintage black metal, as the third track ‘Gid sprakk vi’ is classic Taake refined and sharpened, and it serves as the perfect middle break before the final and absolute best track of the record, ‘Et uhyre av en kniv’ and you can tell Hoest knew this was something else, because the album closer is also its lead single, and indeed this last song, much like the first, displays all of the album’s strongest qualities, but whereas the opener is an epic and fierce rager, the closer is somber and overwhelming, a perfect balance and an excellent way for Hoest to sign off.

Overall, Taake continues to be one of the most consistent and exemplary acts in black metal and while at this point Hoest could coast by on legacy alone, the fact that he’s still able to deliver music this good and boundary pushing in his mid 40’s and after three decades is a testament to his skills and devotion to true Norwegian black metal at its best. The 6 year gap was well worth the wait.

Taake's eighth full-length album "Et hav av avstand" is a logical continuation of the previous work "Kong vinter" (2017): it seems to be black metal, but on the other hand it cannot be black metal for the simple reason that Hoest does everything so that it is not black metal. Not to mention the riffage, you can hardly feel the aggression on this album – this is not sinistrous music at all, this is more of an atmospheric music. Nevertheless, this is not atmospheric black metal again, because the atmosphere here is kind of strange. Hoest could boast not exactly avant-garde, but at least unusual moves even on his debut album "Nattestid ser porten vid" (1999), and it seems that 30 years after the start of his career (taking this into account Thule) he is only interested in these tricks.

It goes without saying, there are interesting passages in this abundance of melodies, there are a lot of riffs here as well, some of them even turn you on, well, this cannot be taken away from Taake. But all too often there is a temptation to write off all these oddities / avant-garde riffs as a post black metal attitude. Sometimes it's enough just to "turn off" blast-beat drumming and – ta da! – there will be real post black metal, this manifests itself most of all on "Et uhyre av en kniv".

We do not at all require of the Norwegian band to follow exclusively old school canons, we always welcome experiments, however, there are experiments and experiments. It seems that Hoest wants to be very original and in pursuit of this does not care at all how strange his riffs sound sometimes. This is his hallmark, and in general it is small wonder that this black metal artist once showed off with a banjo ("Myr" on "Noregs vaapen", 2011).

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that he found some kind of unique harmony, and we simply cannot feel it, but we would really like to listen to Taake with a different guitar sound: on "Et hav av avstand" it is still almost typical black metal-ish. Quasi-old school, you know. This allows him to hide any non-black metal-ish riffs and twists. There is a very revealing passage on the second "Utarmede gruver": when the song gets an acceleration (almost a blast beat), we hear some kind of post-punk riff performed in a black metal-ish manner. Perhaps, yes, Hoest is experimenting too boldly with other styles, or rather, trying to palm off their elements as black metal.

It is perhaps even easier to simulate atmospheric black metal. Especially if many of your melodies are filled with sadness – listen carefully to them and you will notice that some riffs are teetering on the edge of some gothic metal. For example, when the guitar solo enters on the slow passage of the last "Et uhyre av en kniv" it feels like it's gothic metal. In general, this song is too, pardon us, maudlin, too long, and its finale seems to have been composed in a hurry on a napkin during lunch, it (the finale) can be more or less accepted only if classified as an outro.

There are practically no experiments from the modern black metal category. As we remember, "Inntrenger" on "Kong vinter" featured a slight dissonance – on "Et hav av avstand" this element is practically not used. It isn't as though that the emphasis is shifted to oldschoolness on this album, although you can even fall into the illusion that it (oldschoolness) breaks away here in every second riff, it is just well disguised by various pranks. Nothing of the kind, this is clear from the very first song "Denne forblaaste ruin av en bro", where some of the riffs are reminiscent of late Darkthrone. Well, as if they converted to post black metal. And if it seems to you that some groovy riff is in the vein of Satyricon, then this is Satyricon, which has gone through a couple of scratching (i. e. moving a vinyl record back and forth by DJ). Well, it's a metaphor, just a metaphor.

One and the same "Et uhyre av en kniv" demonstrates the true attitude of nowaday's Taake to oldschoolness: the minimalist riff at the beginning has a pretty strong "Filosofem" vibe, the vocal seems to reinforce this analogy, however, the post black metal-ish optimism coming out of the woodwork turns this oldschoolness into some kind of parody. The following vital and even sportful riff, completely devoid of "Filosofem" hypnotic effect, reinforces this parody.

It is possible that Taake's "signature atmosphere" is not able to make its way to the heart of every listener because of the constructing the riffage as well. The sick manner of abrupt and skittish jumping from one riff to another has always been a band's schtick (check out "Havet i huset" on "Kong winter", for example), but now Hoest seems to have decided to surpass himself: the transition to another riff is perceived as gluing through pause on "Et hav av avstand". "Et uhyre av en kniv" is again the most revealing in this regard: Hoest monotonously repeats a single riff, then he seems to get bored of it, so he drops it and starts to pound away a new riff.

Sometimes the abundance of such deliberate jumps is even confusing, because because of them it becomes unclear that another song has begun (transition from "Denne forblaaste ruin av en bro" to "Utarmede gruver"). As a result, we can talk about the absence of a single plot thread in the song, we just get some kind of a medley of riffs.

Summary. The newest album did not bring anything fundamentally new to Taake's music. It's pretty hard for us to single out any song as the best or the worst (except maybe "Et uhyre av en kniv"). If you love Taake, this album is sure to please you. If you've never really appreciated Taake, "Et hav av avstand" won't change your mind.

The Metal Observer

I have to say that the year of 2023 has been very fulfilling with amazing metal releases, with black metal albums being quite surprisingly the most anticipated ones this year. Among so many great albums from the black metal genre, one of them that’s surrounded with immense hype would definitely be Taake’s new album Et Hav Av Avstand. People who are familiar with classic Norwegian black metal bands, are obviously familiar with Taake and their cult status in the scene, so I believe that this band requires no introduction. Taake released their eight full-length album Et Hav Av Avstand on September 1st via Dark Essence Records, with a total of 4 tracks. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised when Taake put out a new single 'Et Uhyre Av En Kniv', while also announcing the release of their new album, especially since their previous seventh album Kong Vinter was released 6 years ago and all we had were three splits that filled the gap. Fast forward to the present, this new album is on the horizon for crazed fans of Norwegian black metal like myself, which got me quite excited because I’ve been a Taake fan for some time and I was really looking forward to hearing this bad boy. So, is this album worth your while? Let’s find out…

From the very get-go, as the first track 'Denne Forblaaste Ruin Av En Bro' kicks in, good old classic Taake is already rocking out. Tremolo riffs with the additional dose of “in your face dirty rock ‘n roll” are absolutely banging with dynamic arrangements, going through these various tempo changes, along with the drums that often switch between fast drumming, d-beats and mid-tempo drumming, while Hoest’s signature dry and frozen harsh vocals just add so much grimness to this devilish brew. The second track 'Utarmede Gruver' has probably some of the catchiest headbanging riffing and drumming that will definitely provide more than just wild entertainment, while also presenting a slow but moody mid-section with a hammer-on riff that really sets up the cold misty tone of Taake. The third track 'Gid Sprakk Vi' is surprisingly just 6 minutes and 15 seconds long, thus being the shortest track of the four, though I’d say that this track is a good moment for fans to catch their breath before the conclusion with the last track 'Et Uhyre Av En Kniv' which is the longest track with its length of 13 minutes. Something that’s always been the tradition with Taake is the lengthiness of their songs, which wonderfully use this opportunity to introduce at least a dozen riffs that will keep your attention and make you completely oblivious to the fact that you were listening to an eleven-minute song due to immersing yourself. Hoest obviously knows how to make his songs engaging and entertaining from start to finish, while also balancing things on a moderate scale to prevent listeners from getting bored to death and obviously doesn’t want to make them feel exhausted as if they were just listening to an extremely long riff salad. Ever since I started listening to Taake in 2019, I never lost interest in the band after all these years and I am still madly in love with their oldschool sound. Something that feels a bit strange about this album is that it somehow feels incredibly short, despite the fact it comes around the length of 42 minutes. After getting completely drawn to this album’s magic, you quickly reach its conclusion before you even know it’s over, which may be my only downside of this album. Overall, I think that you can overlook this small issue, because if you really feel what Hoest does on this album, it still really does a great job at being what Taake is best known for. Production-wise, Hoest maintains the sacred tradition at making the albums sound vintage and moderately raw, with a dirty guitar tone and raspy vocals that are always Taake’s strongest points and they do in fact shine on this album.

Although I felt really underwhelmed by the fact that this album was over before I even managed to get a hold of what was going on, I still managed to enjoy it for what it is. It may not be the best Taake album, but it’s obviously not trying to reinvent the wheel or attempt desperately to be the greatest of them all, because it is in fact a good Taake album and I think that you will definitely enjoy it when it’s released on September 1st, amidst the forthcoming autumn sorrow and cold. I have to say that I highly respect the fact that Hoest is one of these rare occasions when a musician stays faithful to the band’s roots and still manages to create some banger riffs at the age of 45.

Written for www.Metalbite.com