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/:: Artist :: Graveland ::\
:: Album :: Hour of Ragnarok ::
:: Year :: 2021 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CD . ::
:: Label :: The Oath R.date :: 2025-12-20 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: OATH057 S.date :: 2021-08-30 __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 279kbps :..
. Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo .
. Size :: 105.73MB .
. .
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 1. The Wolf of Twilight 6:14 ::
:: 2. Hour of Ragnarok 5:54 ::
:: 3. Conspiracy of the Wizards 5:52 ::
:: 4. Children of Hyperborea 7:06 ::
:: 5. Following the Azure Light 6:07 ::
:: 6. The Three Gifts of the Gods 5:32 ::
:: 7. Enlighted by the Wisdom of Runes 7:39 ::
:: 8. River of Tears 5:55 ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 50:19 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: Ah, we all already forgot when Graveland made us happy with ::
:: something really new: for the previous eight years, Rob Darken ::
:: was too busy offering us his old works in new packing, i. e. ::
:: with modern arrangement. Well, modernization is also a big ::
:: deal, maybe. But "Hour of Ragnarok" is finally an actual new ::
:: album. ::
:: ::
:: So what do we have here? The label press release assures us ::
:: that this is "music from the beginning of the history of ::
:: Graveland," but in this case we can hardly speak of "returning ::
:: to the roots." Well, if you manage to make out the guitar ::
:: parts, then, of course, there is no doubt, this is the same ::
:: good old Graveland with wintry minimalist riffs, warlike and ::
:: atmospheric at the same time. The problem is that if there is ::
:: any guitar aggressiveness on this album, then it is safely ::
:: buried under a thick layer of keyboards. Graveland's previous ::
:: "true" album, "Thunderbolts of the Gods" (2013), is pure guitar ::
:: work compared to "Hour of Ragnarok". ::
:: ::
:: Yes, keyboards are the cornerstone of the new Graveland album. ::
:: They sound almost constantly. From the very first song, "The ::
:: Wolf of Twilight", solemn and epic melodies, often dominated by ::
:: folklore motifs, descend upon us. Sometimes even a pagan dance ::
:: reigns in the songs (especially check out "Enlighted by the ::
:: Wisdom of Runes"). We scarcely know what to say, it seems that ::
:: Darken was so eager to transfer the pagan atmosphere for ::
:: reenactors, who maybe seem to be more real pagans than his ::
:: fellow musicians / black metallers, that he almost forgot about ::
:: the metal component of his music. Of course, Graveland did not ::
:: turn into Lord Wind, another Darken's project, but we can say ::
:: that the "great merger" has begun. It is worth mentioning. that ::
:: once upon a time Graveland and Lord Wind could not even be ::
:: compared to one another. ::
:: ::
:: Sometimes the guitar is given the chance to make itself known ::
:: without the control of the keyboards, like in the beginning of ::
:: "Hour of Ragnarok", this is the first appearance. However, that ::
:: rarely happens, as if the keyboards are afraid to leave the ::
:: guitar alone. Therefore, most often the riffs cannot be made ::
:: out very clearly, you can only hear the buzzing of distortion ::
:: from the guitars, while a distortion sound is not sharp or ::
:: razor-sharp at all. Most likely, the synthesizer part ::
:: duplicates the guitar part, so the guitar only pulses somewhere ::
:: in the background. And, of course, there is no solos or licks, ::
:: right, this is Graveland. Damn interesting, what would "Hour of ::
:: Ragnarok" sound like without keyboards? Isn't the absence of ::
:: sensible guitar riffs hidden behind the keyboards? the absence ::
:: of really new guitar riffs? Let's hope it's not true at all, in ::
:: the meantime, it remains to deal with what we hear. ::
:: ::
:: It must be reluctantly acknowledged that the drums also perform ::
:: an auxiliary function, although they are still audible on not ::
:: so rare blast beat sections û submerged of course, as is common ::
:: in old-school raw black metal. Everything is strictly according ::
:: to the canons. By the way, you can tell from the drum sound ::
:: that the production on the album is fairly clean (pay attention ::
:: to the beginning of "Conspiracy of the Wizards" with intense ::
:: fills), but the whole sound was processed in such a way as if ::
:: the recording was made in the 90s. That's right, the muffled ::
:: guitar and squashed bass (although sometimes the bass humming ::
:: seems to be more noticeable than the guitar distortion) were ::
:: handled deliberately poorly. ::
:: ::
:: Because of these "peculiarities" of the album's sound, there is ::
:: often a feeling that a metal foundation has been shoved under ::
:: the building of the music of, for example, Mortiis û and this ::
:: is how "Hour of Ragnarok" was created. Summoning, of course, is ::
:: also remembered often (the most striking example is the ::
:: beginning of "Children of Hyperborea"): in some measure this ::
:: album is a kind of amalgam of classic Summoning and Graveland ::
:: itself, which was mixed in modern conditions with retro ::
:: imitation. And when guitars manage to force their way through ::
:: the keyboard thickness, you can draw a parallel with the Viking ::
:: Bathory material, but there are not many such moments (check ::
:: "The Wolf of Twilight" and "Enlighted by the Wisdom of Runes"). ::
:: There are far more sections in which the music of Graveland ::
:: resembles the soundtrack of "Game of Thrones", most of all it ::
:: is noticeable in the same song "Children of Hyperborea". ::
:: ::
:: The vocals are the same old, Rob Darken's signature harsh and ::
:: grating vocals. There are a lot of lyrics on the album, the ::
:: voice attack continues continuously, ah, as if compensating for ::
:: the lack of metal. In truth, it is the vocals most often that ::
:: make the listener believe that they are listening to Graveland. ::
:: But when Darken begins to sing in a clear voice ("Children of ::
:: Hyperborea", "Following the Azure Light"), then you are ::
:: inevitably lost. Nevertheless, these strange vocal pats sound ::
:: very impressive and epic. ::
:: ::
:: By a strange coincidence, the most interesting song is the last ::
:: one, "River of Tears". Although it starts out as some pompous ::
:: ambient piece, soon metal takes over the lead, and we hear a ::
:: groovy rousing riff. In fact, it is the most guitar section on ::
:: the entire album. Alas, as before, the guitar eventually loses ::
:: its ground. But this is followed by an interesting rhythmic ::
:: breakdown û militant, in some way completely uncharacteristic ::
:: for the entire album. However, in any case, this is folk metal, ::
:: this is pagan metal, and there is no black metal as such. ::
:: ::
:: Summary. Those who expected a true return to their roots will ::
:: no doubt be disappointed with "Hour of Ragnarok". This cannot ::
:: be called a return: it is like watching the previously ::
:: mentioned "Game of Thrones" instead of a classic ::
:: black-and-white film. Well, nobody says "Game of Thrones" is ::
:: bad, new time means new laws. But this is not a classic. For ::
:: now, anyway. So "Hour of Ragnarok" is rather a (yet another) ::
:: incarnation, not a return. It will not be possible to find any ::
:: musical progress here either, right, this is Graveland. ::
:: Nevertheless, Darken worked well, the album is listened to, as ::
:: they say, in one breath. These are indeed pagan hymns. The ::
:: question is solely about the keyboards, whether this is good or ::
:: bad for you. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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