Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 08/10/2004
Twenty years since its inception, "
black metal" has become as useless a term as its original parent "
heavy metal" when it comes to properly describing its many offshoots and subgenres. After all, how can a single label possibly encompass both the primitive rawness of a
Darkthrone and the
classical music-derived grandeur of a
Dimmu Borgir -- not to mention the innumerable strains of Viking, post-
thrash, and
death-bordering varieties out there? Norway's
Borknagar are one of the longest-tenured members of the incomparably bustling
Scandinavian black metal scene, and they too have clearly outgrown simplistic genre definitions over the course of ten years and six albums. 2004's
Epic is that sixth album, and, true to its title, it finds the band led by guitarist
Oystein G. Brun crafting yet another ambitious collage of
metal styles into what they like to call "majestic
black metal." Not quite as symphonic in scope as the likes of
Emperor or the aforementioned
Dimmu, nor as obsessed with the Viking and folk elements like
Enslaved or
Windir, the compositions of
Borknagar are based on more traditional
rock songwriting structures; and they attain their greatest distinction through ample and eclectic keyboard colorings, and a literal laundry list of different vocal techniques enriching their creative palette. The recent addition of accomplished vocalist
Vintersorg is crucial to this last mission, and he once again proves himself equally comfortable with
black metal's requisite strangled shrieking as with outright melodic singing. In fact,
Epic proves that he's easily one of his generation's best singers working within the extreme
metal idiom. Throw in the expert musicianship and inventive arrangements fashioned by the rest of the group and resulting album highlights such as
"Future Reminiscence," "Sealed Chambers of Electricity," and
"Resonance" positively sparkle with memorable riffs, tasty keyboards, and, most importantly, furiously head-banging passages. The psychedelic guitar chimes of
"Traveller" and the dramatic quasi-power
ballads "Circled" and
"The Wonder" (only the cookie monster grunts don't comply, but they work anyway) show
Borknagar's willingness to defy
metal's boundaries, while the remarkable instrumental,
"Weight of the Wind," simply breaks with all preconceptions by combining beautiful piano, mesmerizing keyboards, and spidery guitar leads in equal measures. All in all,
Epic is a particularly satisfying, distinctive, and at times even surprising release from these "
black metal" veterans.
~Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide
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