The Flight Of Sleipnir - Saga

The Flight Of Sleipnir are still out near the Rockies releasing sublime stoner folkdoom. Essence Of Nine and Lore were both great releases that merged catchy, dense riffing, folk beauty, and a Scandinavian aesthetic to create fun and immersive listens. Saga is a direct continuation of their now well-established sound.

One thing that I definitely respect about this duo is their use of keyboards. They're not explosive, over the top, or anything like that. They usually play a single chord buried in the mix before fading and repeating in drone fashion (see: "Heavy Rest The Chains Of The Damned"). It's subtle enough to keep them from being intrusive and it adds another layer of texture to The Flight Of Sleipnir's music. Like the keyboards though, the vocals are low in the mix as well and personally I think it works quite well. Clean vocals are quiet yet coherent enough to add poetic beauty, and the throaty blackened rasping echoes like calls to mother nature in a vast fjord.

Saga fits pretty well in The Flight Of Sleipnir's. Unlike some bands who try to repetitively release the same album however, these guys' add a bit of unique flavor. Lore felt a little unpolished with its denser mix, and Essence Of Nine took that sound and added more complex riffs and rhythms as well as more acoustic passages. Saga feels more subdued than both of them, at least in terms of their mainstay in the fuzzy guitar tone. David Csicsely's snare still sounds as great as ever. "Harrowing Desperation" is a good example of that and the mellowed guitar-plus-effects add a lot to the track. I always liked the long, drone-like outro lead of "Reverence" as well. Not that they haven't had these qualities on their previous releases, but it took me until now to really put my finger on them.

The Flight Of Sleipnir's albums are something you have to listen to in their entirety to appreciate despite having a few standout, hook-based tracks on each (looking at you, "Of Words and Ravens"). They're solid active listening experiences and great passive listening ones. If the interlacing of acoustic guitars with electrified doom and a light folk atmosphere appeals to you, then there's no doubt that you'll enjoy all of their releases. Saga is no different, and I guess that's why I'm having trouble writing about it since I've covered their other output already - but that's definitely not a bad thing.

7.75 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1. Prologue
2. Reaffirmation
3. Reverence
4. Harrowing Desperation
5. Heavy Rest The Chains Of The Damned
6. Judgment
7. Dmise Carries With It a Song
8. The Mountain
9. Hour Of Cessation
!0. Remission
11. Beneath Red Skies
12. Epilogue

Bandcamp

The Flight Of Sleipnir - Lore

More unfinished reviews. Get excited.

If I had to compare The Flight Of Sleipnir to any band, it would be early Bergtatt-era Ulver with plenty of stoner doom and very minor sludge elements. Their sophomore release Lore is much more interesting than Kvelertak's debut, but that might be because the more 'Americanized' stoner doom sound appeals to me more than half-baked hardcore and sludge sprinkled with black metal. These Colorado doomsters do incorporate the same ethereal folk elements you're used to hearing from Garm and gang into their sound. They even have the whole Scandinavian mythology thematic going for them too, although it is a bit less genuine than their sound.

Much to my surprise on Lore the folk elements and clean vocalwork are what stand out the most. The distorted guitarwork is mostly standard, mid-paced doom fare. The acoustic guitar interplay with the thicker, fuzzed-out chugging makes for a compelling atmosphere that the clean vocals compliment perfectly. I'm not sure whether drummer and guitarist David Csicsely or guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist Clayton Cushman is the primary clean singer, but they both have some coinciding lines and are both excellent at what they do. I know it's a rarity for me to appreciate clean vocals in metal, but The Flight Of Sleipnir keep it low-key enough to maintain their integrity. Then again the vocals are mixed low in general, but I don't mind. Keeps the music sounding distant, like the roaring of thunder in a great fjord.

More on that acoustic guitarwork -- it's beautiful in all the right ways. The acoustic segments are haunting yet not overly cheesy like The Mantle-era Agalloch, organic without sounding forced, and intricate enough to remain interesting. "Fenrisulfr" and "The End Begun" is their peak on the album, with the former being more haunting and the latter being more flowery. There's an abrupt change in tone with "No Man Will Spare Another," as the closing part is the most aggressive I've ever heard The Flight Of Sleipnir. There's even guttural lows hidden in the mix, although that might just be an effect added as a separate layer. The closer "Let Us Drink Till We Die" is aptly morose and melancholic and features female (backing?) vocals.

With a solid mix, great acoustic - electric interplay, and a more atmospheric take on stoner doom, The Flight Of Sleipnir's Lore is a great release. I wish the doom elements were more along the lines of those present on their third release, Essence Of Nine though.

7.5 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1. Legends
2. Of Words And Ravens
3. Asgardreid
4. Fenrisulfr
5. The End Begun
6. Black Swans
7. No Man Will Spare Another
8. Winter Nocturne
9. Let Us Drink Till We Die

Bandcamp

Drudkh - Eternal Turn Of The Wheel

Eternal Turn Of The Wheel is Drudkh's touted return to form after the mediocre-bad Handful Of Stars. When an album is supposedly a "return to form" I guess the main goal is to never get your hopes up because no matter what the band produces it'll be a shadow of their former self. Is that the case with Drudkh's Eternal Turn Of The Wheel? Kind of.

Here we have Drudkh's ninth full-length in nine years starting in 2003. They've released an album just about every year (minus 2008 and 2011), and the first seven were relatively consistent with a few marked dips in quality, their lowest point being Handful Of Stars. However Eternal Turn Of The Wheel is supposedly a return to former glories like Autumn Aurora and Blood In Our Wells, which saw Drudkh creating atmospherically dense folksy black metal. Eternal Turn Of The Wheel capitalizes on this with an enchanting bleakness that the last few albums lacked (yes, even Microcosmos which I enjoyed).

The re-found atmosphere is as dense as ever. Like walking in a snowstorm, these guys really blanket you in some cold-as-fuck riffs. "Breath Of Cold Black Soil" is a strong opener with its tremolo riffing and subtle keyboards. Thurios' vocals are a bit more prominent this time around throughout the entirety of Eternal Turn Of The Wheel, but the riffing carries most of the weight of the music. The outro riff on "Night Woven of Snow, Winds and Grey-Haired Stars" is particularly powerful, and the Thurios' vocalwork is pained greatness throughout the track.

Not all the tracks are particularly amazing though and on an album of five that's saying something. "When Gods Leave Their Emerald Halls" is passable at best with it's constant blasting and dominant keyboards. It has a strong outro at least. I just fucking hate dominating keyboards. As for the production, I'm kind of impressed. Eternal Turn Of The Wheel has a pretty solid bass tone that adds texture to the often overly-simple black metal riffing.

I know I've mostly praised the album, but something about Drudkh's formula is getting stale for me. This album is somewhat of a delivery on the promise of "a return to form." However I don't know if that form is something I find very appealing anymore. I've heard it done before and better by the same band not to mention others, and I found the whole of Eternal Turn Of The Wheel predictable. Is it acceptable? Yes. Is it really special? No. This wheel certainly can't turn forever.

6.25 out of 10

Tracklisting:

1.	Eternal Circle
2.	Breath of Cold Black Soil
3.	When Gods Leave Their Emerald Halls
4.	Farewell to Autumn's Sorrowful Birds
5.	Night Woven of Snow, Winds and Grey-Haired Stars

Obsequiae - Suspended In The Brume Of Eos

Shit's getting fantasy up in this blog.

"Medieval black metal" - when I think this I imagine nerds in corpsepaint doing some live action roleplaying in their parent's backyard, wooden swords, Halloween costumes, and everything. Obsequiae hasn't done much to change my view of "medieval" black metal with Suspended In The Brume Of Eos, but they have convinced me that these nerds are fucking great at making music.

Twelve tracks of very melodic, semi-folksy, somewhat technical black metal. That's exactly what Suspended In The Brume Of Eos is, but unlike the bands those descriptors generally apply to, Obsequiae doesn't sound stupid or appeal to the Hot Topic demographic. The folk influence is also limited to the numerous between-track interludes like "Sidhe" and "Wildes Deer." All throughout the album the technically proficient and memorable "medieval" riffing pops up, notably on the superlative title track, "Altars Of Moss," and "Starlit Shore." Like the riffs, the drumming is also a highlight. There's plenty of sweet fills, good use of cymbals, and the staple black metal blastbeats. These elements combine to produce a strong pre-Renaissance atmosphere that'll have you headbanging while imagining yourself at a jousting contest drunk off your ass in revelry.

Suspended In The Brume Of Eos features a strong production for black metal that keeps the instruments clean and treble heavy without sounding fake or overcompressed. The vocals are low in the mix, which is perfectly fine since the riffs are the highlight here. Overall the album pretty much just kicks ass and you should check it out. In a year that's been piss-poor for black metal, Obsequiae really shines.

8.25 out of 10

Tracklisting:

1.	Altars of Moss
2.	Sidhe
3.	In the White Fields
4.	Suspended in the Brume of Eos
5.	Wildes Heer
6.	The Wounded Fox
7.	Atonement
8.	Estas Redit
9.	Arrows
10.	The Starlit Shore
11.	Boreas
12.	Cabin Lights