HAGL — Irminsul (review)

HAGL — Irminsul album cover Album · 2011 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Vehemency
Just like I thought when I reviewed Hagl’s previous album Nearer to Victory, this Russian group fixed all the glitches present on previous material and now comes up with Irminsul, a quite damn captivating black metal release that has just the right balance between the somewhat folkish melodies and the harshness of black / thrash metal, all this provided in a rough, sharp and natural production.

The constant fierceness and fast pace of the record makes Irminsul no easy listening at first, but after several spins the riffs’ ingenuity starts to shine, and I am not able to spot one weak track from this 9-track whole, starting from the brief intro (which is not some unnecessary synth playing one fade-in note, but real instrumentation that seamlessly flows into ”Drakkar”) and continuing through all the wistful, emotional melodies to the proud and aggressive sections. The players’ musicianship is a pleasure to listen to, most evident on the adventurous ”Instrumental” which gives a little room for the bass guitar also. Towards the end, ”Raven” and ”In the Whisper of Winds” give some space to distortionless guitars as well, and it all adds to the album’s epic sound.

It’s not that Hagl creates anything remarkably unique here on Irminsul, but they know how to create good riffs and melodies off quite traditional ideas, and I can’t complain. Luckily there’s no longer that cheap distortion effect on vocals, instead they now sound natural and pretty strongly in the vein of Lutomysl. For musical comparisons, think of all the many Eastern European black metal acts and also a little bit of Goatmoon, and you get a general picture of Hagl’s style of black metal.

There’s no need to go into fully detailed depictions when it comes to Irminsul’s individual songs; what only needs to be said is that Irminsul does its job admirably throughout and gets a warm recommendation from me if you’re generally into the style. Irminsul was already recorded three years ago (kind of the same thing with the previous album recorded in 2005 and not released until last year) which makes wonder if these Russians have already something new to unleash, and hopefully it won’t take that long again.
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