BORKNAGAR — Fall (review)

Album · 2024 · Progressive Metal

4/5 · 2024-02-28
siLLy puPPy

Founded in 1995 by Norwegian Øystein Garnes Brun to escape the confines of the brutal aspects of death metal with the band Molested, Brun formed BORKNAGAR which has now had a near 30 year run of mixing black metal, folk metal, Viking metal and progressive metal in varying recipes through the course of 12 albums and a consistently changing lineup. As the founder and only member to transverse the band's near 30 year existence, BORKNAGAR has featured 17 different musicians and vocalists adding their signature style so in the process, BORKNAGAR has unleashed some of the most varied albums to be heard in the realms of progressive black metal.

Well Garnes is back with the newest BORKNAGAR album FALL which lands with the same exact lineup as 2019's critically acclaimed "True North." Back for the ride is vocalist / bassist ICS Vortex, lead vocalist / keyboardist Lars "Lazare" Nedland, percussionist Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow, guitarist Jostein Thomassen and of course Brun on guitar as well as taking care of all the mixing, mastering and production. The new album continues in the spirit of the progressive black metal meets folk metal predecessor "True North" only this time around BORKNAGAR looks to the past to add some of the earliest sounds of Viking metal and the crushing razor-sharp guitar riffing of the earliest releases. The album features 9 tracks and clocks in at over 59 minutes. The limited edition digipak offers two bonus tracks (both basically demos).

One thing i can say about BORKNAGAR and that is no two albums are alike. This band is all about exploration and shifting gears into totally uncharted musical territories which is honestly why some of the albums are utterly brilliant and some not so much so but at least i give Brun credit for going where no black metal dared before. It seems in recent years Brun has upped his game and figured out how to balance all the stylistic shifts into a cohesive whole and that is exactly what is the case with FALL, a powerhouse of progressive metal, Viking metal and black metal with the added folk inspirations that have always been part of the equation. "Summits" starts the party with a black metal furor that portends to find the band revisiting the ferocity of the self-titled debut but soon all those notions are put to rest as the clean vocals and psychedelic atmospheres conspire to usher in a Viking metal infused progressive metal touch.

"Nordic Anthem" follows but offers an instantly calmer mood with an atmospheric smothered war march percussive drive and an indeed anthemic vocal delivery of Viking metal that would make Quorthon himself render a thumb's up. The track ramps up the extremely melodic nature of the album and the rest of the album pretty much follows suit. "Afar" offers the same dreamy entryway into a pacifying array of swirling atmospheric ambience but soon erupts into a second wave Darkthrone inspired black metal furor but this album shifts gears quite a bit and it trades off with the mellower clean vocal parts once again. "Moon" just skips the formalities and immediately ushers in a symphonic black metal approach but eschews the raspy vocal style. "Stars Ablaze" is the only overlong track that spends too much time in the clouds. Personally i think the album would be better if this were edited out. "Unraveling" delivers a much needed boost of heavy vs mellow and "The Wild Lingers" delivers a nice mix of both only more directed into the Viking metal camp. "Northward" ends with a nice upbeat furor.

FALL is an epic sounding album, more so than other BORKNAGAR releases. While the emphasis is on the cleaner vocal styles of progressive metal and Viking metal, the black metal raspiness and metal furor is distributed nicely so as to give the album a boost when it needs it most to keep it from drifting too far into near orbit space. The tracks themselves are complex little beasts that meander through various passages, a litany of chord changes, tone and timbre curveballs and a perfect tightrope act between the heavier extreme moments and the Viking folk aspects that often threaten to jettison the metal altogether by going the route of 2006's "Origin." The complex progressive touches allow the album to sail into the distant horizon and the black metal roots keep it all anchored in place so that it can all be reeled back in when the contrast is required to spice things up. The album has some moments in the middle that perhaps the clean vocal drifting drifts too far and outstays its welcome (ahem, "Stars Ablaze," but for the most part the album feels pretty well balanced.

By ending with the uptempo "Northward" the album comes full circle back to the raspy black metal heft that began it all. The vocal tradeoffs come off as natural and not gimmicky and the guitar tones of both the cleaner parts and heavier ones are very nice. BORKNAGAR has for my tastes at least been a very hit and miss band with some of the releases sounding a bit too goofy for their own good as progressive ideas don't always work out so well if not implemented correctly but on FALL, Brun has ironed out all the wrinkles and delivered an outstanding slice of melodic progressive black metal that effortlessly fuses all the band's previous incarnations into a cohesive whole. It seems BORKNAGAR is one of those bands that gets better with age with longevity serving as a friend rather than foe. For those looking for a second wave black metal album, don't even bother but if you are all about progressive metal complexities that features black metal as one of the many ingredients, then this album will not disappoint.