_ _______ _ ...:... _ _______ _
___ / .:::::::::::. \ ___
| / .. (:::::::::::::) .. \ |
| . .:::::.`:::::::::::'.:::::. . |
| .::.. `:::.::':::`::.:::' ..::. |
_ _______ | .::' ::::':::::`:::: `::. | _______ _
\\ | | :: `' ::':`:: `' :: | | //
\ | | `:. .::' . `::. .:' | | /
. | | .::::::..::::' ... `::::..::::::. | | .
| | `:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::' | |
.... | | `:' `::::: :: :: :::::' `:' | | ....
| ' | : `. ': :: :: :: :: :` .' : | ` |
|.....: . .......: :: :: :: :: : ...... . : ....|
. ...................: : :: :: :: :: : : ................. .
_____________:_____________ _____________:_____________
_ ___\` __ /_\` _______/_\` __ _/_\` /___ _
// __ / (/ ___/ (/ _ (/ /_______/\
_ _ /_________ ___________ ______/\ _ ______________/\__/_ _
\\\\\_________\__/\_________\__/\_____/\_____/\____________/ ///
- -\-\-----------\__/----------\__/-------\_____/---------------/-/- -
- -------------------: : :. ..:: :: . :------------------ -
: : :......: :: :` ': :: : .....: : :
___ _ | | : ` ' : | | _ ___
_\---------- : | -------- : B E R C : -------- | : ----------/_
/_\ . : . ..:.. ..:.. . : . /_\
/// . . : : . . \\\
/: :\
/:: Artist :: Satanic Warmaster ::\
:: Album :: Aamongandr ::
:: Year :: 2023 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CDDA . ::
:: Label :: Werewolf Records R.date :: 2023.04.04 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: EVIL-088 S.date :: 2023.01.27 __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 265kbps :..
. Quality :: 44,1kHz/Joint Stereo .
. Size :: 70,01 MB .
. .
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 01. Bafomet 05:28 ::
:: 02. Duke's Ride 06:29 ::
:: 03. Berserk Death 05:10 ::
:: 04. The Eye of Satan 05:02 ::
:: 05. Darkness... Triumphator 06:57 ::
:: 06. Barbas x Aamon 07:49 ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 36:55 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: "Aamongandr" is the sixth album by Finnish black metal ::
:: veterans Satanic Warmaster. If you look at their ::
:: discography, you can see that the interval between their ::
:: full-length albums has been constantly increasing, and as a ::
:: result, the previous and current albums are separated by ::
:: eight years. Well, according to the methodology tested on ::
:: "Fimbulwinter", the project leader Werwolf is only ::
:: responsible for the guitar and vocals on "Aamongandr", while ::
:: the rest of the instruments are played by guest musicians. ::
:: Of course, no one expects any musical progress or experiment ::
:: from Werwolf. Yes, there is nothing like this even close. ::
:: Although there have been some changes in Satanic Warmaster's ::
:: music. ::
:: ::
:: On the whole, "Aamongandr" continues the streak of ::
:: "Fimbulwinter" û evil and at the same time melodic music at ::
:: high speeds: hateful riffs, piercing leads, furious blast ::
:: beats. If we draw analogies then this is a kind of amalgam ::
:: of Gorgoroth and Swordmaster, also you can catch something ::
:: similar to early Dark Funeral in some places. Scandinavian ::
:: black metal in all its glory. ::
:: ::
:: What you immediately notice is that "Fimbulwinter" was ::
:: tougher than "Aamongandr". Firstly, because of the rhythm ::
:: guitar sound û it is muffled and blurry now, while it was ::
:: more sharp and tough before. In its turn the production was ::
:: a bit dry on the previous album, while on the new one, on ::
:: the contrary, it is rather raw. This can be seen as a kind ::
:: of turn to the old schoolness and rejection of modern trends ::
:: that "Fimbulwinter" came pretty close to. ::
:: ::
:: Secondly, even if "Aamongandr" following the example of its ::
:: predecessor is strong with distinct and focused riffs like ::
:: sharpened spears, an emphasis is placed here on musical ::
:: arrangement but not on riffing at all: leads and keyboards ::
:: now give voice much more often, while the melodic sequence ::
:: makes you think about applying the term symphonic black ::
:: metal to Satanic Warmaster even without keyboards. It is raw ::
:: symphonic black metal, in a manner of speaking. ::
:: ::
:: It cannot be denied that "Aamongandr" is incredibly strong ::
:: with its melodic and piercing leads, which seem to drown out ::
:: the rhythm with their voices. You can feel it best at the ::
:: beginning of the third "Berserk Death" û a lead, piercing ::
:: even on the verge of maudliness, puts pressure on a mid- ::
:: tempo syncopated rhythm so much that it loses its ::
:: characteristic punkish attitude. That's right, for better or ::
:: worse, this "schtick" of Finnish black metal (i. e. ::
:: punkiness) is safely hidden on "Aamongandr". ::
:: ::
:: Rhythm performs the function of underlay dutifullyû the ::
:: fifth "Darkness... Triumphator", built on an almost single ::
:: minimalistic riff, is another great example that the rhythm ::
:: has got a part-time job on this album. With such an ::
:: abundance of tremolo-picked leads there is not much space ::
:: left for solos and licks û there are really few of them on ::
:: "Aamongandr". ::
:: ::
:: As for the keyboards, they appear beginning from the second ::
:: song as well as on "Fimbulwinter", but if they were used ::
:: there only in several songs, then keyboards on "Aamongandr" ::
:: are used on each one, making you remember classic Norwegian ::
:: melodic/symphonic black metal in the spirit of Old Man's ::
:: Child, Obtained Enslavement, Covenant, etc. Only at the end ::
:: of "The Eye of Satan" we get a fundamentally different ::
:: manner û some pipe-like keyboards with a clear touch of ::
:: folk. This could be attributed to that Trollhorn (Henri ::
:: Sorvali) of Finntroll/Moonsorrow plays keyboards, but the ::
:: fact is that we have already heard these pipe-like keyboards ::
:: on "Fimbulwinter" ("Dragon's Egg"). However, it's a ::
:: tendency. ::
:: ::
:: In addition, "Aamongandr" greatly enhanced the ::
:: "Fimbulwinter" maneuver to use heavy metal patterns. Yes, ::
:: they have been there before (a bridge and solo on "Funeral ::
:: Wolves"), but now they follow each other like waves of surf: ::
:: a heavy metal solo enters at the very beginning of the ::
:: opening song, and already throughout the riffs of the third ::
:: "Berserk Death" you catch yourself feeling that Werwolf ::
:: maybe remade his closed heavy metal project Armor in a new ::
:: way, that is, in a black metalesque way. ::
:: ::
:: The last "Barbas X Aamon" stands out from the rest songs: a ::
:: slow picked riff and "distant bell" keyboards make a ::
:: reference to Burzum in its best days, and although the ::
:: analogy with the creation of Grishnackh disappears after the ::
:: emotional explosion in the riffs û we hear some slow Swedish ::
:: black metal û it comes back again at the song's end. This ::
:: track, the longest on the album, can even be called ::
:: touching. Definitely this is a lot better than the Mortiis- ::
:: like motifs at the end of "Fimbulwinter" ("Winter's Hunger" ::
:: and "Silent Call of Moon's Temples"). ::
:: ::
:: Yet through it all, "Aamongandr" is much smoother than ::
:: "Fimbulwinter" û the whole album is sustained in a coherent ::
:: manner, there are no "anomalies" on it like the first half ::
:: of "Nuin-Gaer-Faun", this Dissection-like "hit", or the ::
:: seventh "Winter's Hunger" with its an extremely tough ::
:: rhythm. Though there are lots of tempo changes in the songs, ::
:: this does not switch the listener from one extreme to ::
:: another. All elements of the album fit together perfectly. ::
:: ::
:: Summary. It's hard for us to imagine what will disappoint ::
:: Satanic Warmaster fans on "Aamongandr". In one word, enjoy. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
\: :. \\ ___________ . ___________ // .: :/
__\____ :: ____ ___\ _ / BERC : 2023 \ _ /___ ____ :: ____/__
\\\f3! :: \\\ __ _/_________i_________\ /___/ /// :: cRO///
\ :: :\-\___________\_ ___ / _ _/___________/-/: :: /
:: | . . _ _ _/ __/ . \_ _ _ . . | ::
: :::::::: | | \\\\\/ _______\____|\ \///// | | :::::::: :
:: | | -\-\/____/-------------\____\/-/- | | ::
:: | | \ :|: / | | ::
: : | . ` ::: ' . | : :
. . | : ::: : | . .
| :::....:::....::: |
: ::::::::::::::::: :
. :::''``:::''``::: .
: ::: :
. ::: .
.:.
: