Borknagar
Borknagar
Malicious, 1996

Borknagar is the creation of Oystein G. Brun, guitarist for Norwegian death metal band Molested. Yearning to make a more epic style of metal, he assembled the impressive line-up of vocalist Garm (Ulver/Arcturus), drummer Grim (Immortal/Gorgoroth), bassist Infernus (Gorgoroth), and Enslaved guitarist Ivar Bjornson to provide keyboards. The self-titled debut album features a barbaric and heroical style of black metal with Norwegian folk music elements. Conceptually, it explores the customs of ancient times, Scandinavian mythology, heathen sentiments, and the struggle of existence in a time when the bond between humans and nature was pure. The music is raw, primal, epic, and magnificently atmospheric.

This music achieves a fantastic equilibrium of might and beauty. The ferocious, physical drumming takes a dominant presence, providing the music an unrefined strength through raw power not without a skillful ear for song development. Muscular weight of surging rhythms drive this music with primordial urgency. Berserker screams of the unrestrained spirit of the courageous and enraged are complimented by heroic singing, which supplies certain passages with a masculine melancholy, as the yearnings of a proud warrior in a reclaimed moment of reflection. A unique approach to black metal guitar is displayed in emphasizing each chord, which lends a clarity to every noise from the instrument, while a great talent for melodic progression is shown through a wash of distorted chaos from which excellent melody springs forth. Slightly understated keyboards enhance the epic nature of the music, sounding just beneath the riffs to blend in perfect harmony. A number of brief instrumentals decorate the album with acoustic folk sections, keyboard ambience, and battle noise, granting the music a charm of experience through a multifarious world.

The constancy of conflict in the longing for tranquillity is wonderfully reflected in this music, which is a testament to the superior compositional skill employed throughout this effort. All is in strife. The elemental struggle of the universe is shared by all things, both animate and inanimate, from the ant to the mountain, all striving to become the perfection of its kind according to the laws that govern its particular manifestation of the universal essence. The highest of these manifestations, man, wrestles with his savage nature which calls him to an untamed world, yet the sophistication of intellectual perception awakens his spirit to the potential of high achievement unknowable to the beasts. This struggle is delicate. In the core of humanity lies the bestial savagery recognized by all makers of laws, which are in place as an acknowledgment of our true nature. Yet too faithful an obedience to such laws make us forget our animal essence, and we are forced into concrete prisons in the carrying out of menial tasks that require exercise of only our most mechanical faculties. We know we don’t belong here, and our progressive obsessions lead us ever further away from our inner truths.

This is the age of a new struggle for humanity. No longer connected to the earth, we have no true relationship with our work, our food, and our selves. Borknagar call upon the ancient past for inspiration to fight this modern battle towards spiritual transcendence. This is music that upholds the long-forgotten virtues of honor, nobility and honest pride, qualities always identified in the heroic. Who are the heroes of this time? Who can truthfully claim to face this diseased time with a noble heart and proud determination for all that is true and real in this fleeting existence? The ones who stand up for these questions are the ones who will find within Borknagar’s passionate heathen metal of glorious atmosphere the representation of the beauty in strife and the meaning within the struggle for living a life that justifies itself even in the face of the grimmest death.

8/29/07

1. Vintervredets Sjelesagn
2. Tanker Mot Tind (Kvelding)
3. Svartskogs Gilde
4. Ved Steingard
5. Krigsstev
6. Dauden
7. Grimskalle Trell
8. Nord Naagauk
9. Fandens Allheim
10. Tanker Mot Tind (Gryning)

Borknagar
The Olden Domain
Century Media, 1997

The Olden Domain is an expansion of defining themes from Borknagar’s first album. The characteristic elements are further developed in a widening of the band’s sound, which achieves a vast atmosphere reaching further into the epic and melodic than before. The enormous production provides this music with a powerful presence, as each aspect of the band’s instrumentation is emphasized, accomplishing effective balance between the ambient and robust nature of the material. Yet the great triumph of Borknagar’s music is the masterful composition. There is a fantastic employment of dynamics of the epic, the bombastic, the ferocious, and the contemplative, reflecting the flow of existence through the medium of directional, purposeful songwriting.

Summoning the ancient spirit of their Norwegian ancestry, Borknagar arouse a spiritual yearning for a purity of understanding and inner truth through a musical mood of heathenish convictions, recalling the barbaric nobility of Viking traditions. The personality of the music is wise, heroic, and incensed, fueled by unyielding passion, strong in spirit towards the countless perils awaiting on every course. A greater balance between the scathing screams and triumphant singing works towards a wider emotional perspective than offered by the first album. Garm’s singing voice is heroic, noble, proud, and defiantly confident, reaching, in context with the music, glorious heights of epic beauty in "The Winterway", "A Tale Of Pagan Tongue" and "The Dawn OF The End". The guitar riffs are typically simplistic in design while subtly utilizing harmonic fluctuation which fleshes out the sound in flowing proportions of composite undertones. Melancholic melodies arising from slower passages give the music a sentimental touch, yet this effect is accented by thunderous rhythm powered by impressively physical drumming. The drummer is an expert pounder in the sense of rhythmical feeling, with incredible energy and force behind beats, forsaking detail in favor of sheer power and might, though keenly aware of overall flow of the music.

"When time is ripe to revive the past
Let us see who stands triumphant!"

The folk elements are less obvious compared to the debut, primarily because there are not as many instrumentals/interludes this time around. These elements are instead subtly incorporated within the riffs and melodies of proper songs through keyboards and acoustic guitars which underscore or embellish particular themes with Scandinavian folk melodies, which evoke a mythological atmosphere. There is a conceptual concentration on elements of nature and the process of organic forces, along with consistent reference to ancient ways of existence which involved an adaption to and learning from the natural environment. Bravery in the face of the long and bitter Scandinavian winter during these olden times was essential when the way of life necessarily demanded a physical and spiritual relationship with the earth, and though we live in more materially comfortable times, the winter of life, of the human experience of existence in a world where infinite struggles lie in wait, calls for a certain hardness of heart and wisdom of spirit. The ancient past can never be revived in the literal sense, but these hard, honest, and noble times produced a meaningful substance for life that is now alien to the ordinary way of life in these comparatively easy modern times. The old ways are not fundamentally useless to us now, and indeed can steer us back to a purer way of life than the celebrated technological progression of this time.

The Olden Domain is a triumphant approach to epic black metal. Powerful composition, beautiful atmospheric flow, mighty rhythmical foundations, and proud melodies are enjoined to create a memorable and thoroughly engaging work .Life is struggle, and Borkangar’s music inspires an embrace of the journey with fierce determination towards a meaningful existence. There is wisdom and faith to be gained by observing the endless victory of the natural cycle, an infinite process that is our clearest representation of reality. This is the well of inspiration pursued by Borknagar, and The Olden Domain stands as the band’s greatest expression.

9/1/07

1. The Eye Of Oden
2. The Winterway
3. Om Hundrede Aar Er Alting Glemt
4. A Tale Of Pagan Tongue
5. To Mount And Rove
6. Grimland Domain
7. Ascension Of Our Fathers
8. The Dawn Of The End

Borknagar
The Archaic Course
Century Media, 1998

A change of vocalist and a newfound penchant for progressive rock structure mark Borknagar’s third album, The Archaic Course. The new vocalist, I.C.S. Vortex, does not possess the captivating presence and expression of the singer he replaces, though there are a few moments on this disc where he shines. His screams lack definition and power, while his singing voice often comes off ineffective and uninspiring. Yet, it would be unjust to neglect mentioning his powerful performance in "Universal", in which his soaring voice elevates the song to tremendous atmospheric beauty. It is easily the most effective track on the album, with an arrangement balancing outstanding compositional intelligence, ethereal melody, and passionate delivery. There are fewer black metal elements on this album, as the band are moving into more progressive musical realms. In this sense it is a transitional album for Borknagar, as their sound is evolving away from the primal, Viking black metal of their beginning towards a more sophisticated and explorative approach to epic metal.

At times, this is an awkward transition. The Archaic Course begins and ends strong, with "Oceans Rise" and "Universal" serving as a powerful and promising opening and "Ad Noctum" and "Winter Millennium", and even instrumental finale "Fields Of Long Gone Presence", bringing the disc to an engaging close. These songs are soaring and epic, wonderfully atmospheric, and succeed as enveloping expressions of the conceptual substance, namely the cyclic essence of nature, universal constancy of motion, the wisdom in a connection with nature through the journey of life, and the balance of natural elements as guide for maintaining personal equilibrium of capacity. It is the middle of the album that fails to convince, featuring songs that lack any manner of emotional captivation, atmospheric presence, or interesting arrangements. It is also this part of the album where the vocals are at their least effective. These particular songs lack the potent dynamics that have come to define Borknagar’s music, as well as having no definable personality or real meaning to the whole. For the first time, Borknagar have created an inconsistent work. The flat and lifeless production does not help matters.

"Rivers longer than blood can flow
Horizons wider than complete wisdom
A distance of furious dreams
Isolated fields in convulsive motion"

At this point, Borknagar are clearly interested in developing their music into a more refined sound. The musicianship is excellent, and the band are led by a gifted composer, but the ideas presented here don’t always translate as convincingly as they should. There have been a few bands who have attempted to take black metal into the realms of progressive rock, yet most have failed because they did not have the appropriate musical vision to merge two styles of music that, at least on the surface, are fundamentally opposed. Oystein G. Brun certainly has the vision, as well as the skill and the musicians to pull this off, as evidenced by the astounding "Universal". Borknagar’s music is at its best when it cuts through the illusions with the creativity and insight of clear vision, voices the wisdom and power of darkness, and expresses the idea of existence as seen through the universal. The strongest tracks here are exactly that, while the rest slip into particulars and thematic trappings that befall so many lesser bands. The highlights of this album justify its existence, but this act are capable of a higher level of consistency.

9/2/07

1. Oceans Rise
2. Universal
3. Witching Hour
4. The Black Token
5. Nocturnal Vision
6. Ad Noctum
7. Winter Millennium
8. Fields Of Long Gone Presence

Borknagar
Quintessence
Century Media, 2000

Epic metal with progressive rock inclinations and black metal residue, Borknagar's fourth work is a celestially atmospheric and musically impressive display. Keyboards provide an astral ambience to the album, while intricate drums and cosmic riffs guide the structure of songs to a usually reasonable conclusion, though a few songs fail to generate the sense of direction-oriented flow that the stronger songs exhibit. Vocals are most effective when black metal screams and soaring clean singing are layered together, particularly in the cyclic, spiral vortex of "The Presence Is Ominous". The clean vocals are tremendous in their epically heroic tone, specifically in standout track "Colossus", where the band's music reaches a powerful presence of arcane atmosphere.

"Complex fusion, the bond of four - the nature’s core
Universal ritual, aesthetic beauty adored"

The progressive rock influences explored, sometimes clumsily, on The Archaic Course are now seamlessly incorporated. The music sounds and feels natural in its fluidity of motion. A greater sense of balance is established here, between the black metal and progressive elements, which enjoin to create an intensity of emotional yearning and complexity of formative design. The production is high-ended, emphasizing the ambient textures of the music, while lacking in bottom-end weight. It is an appropriate sound for this music, as the new keyboardist and drummer bring a different atmospheric dimension to Borknagar, that of a celestial splendor and fluidity of rhythm, led by highly skilled drumming accenting percussive detail and ambient quality of cymbals. The overall mood is reminiscent of progressive/space rock bands of the 1970s, where astral melodies swirl through a variety of arrangements in the creation of adventurous and intelligent music. Guitar tones are grounded in black metal tradition, with the guitarists emphasizing the fullness of sound from every chord, which has always been a unique feature of this band, and one that is similar to perhaps only Enslaved in terms of utilizing the full range of sound from the instrument, which creates a kind of noisy harmony over which melodies glide. The music is faster than The Archaic Course, with even the slower material fueled with an urgent vibrancy that makes the music feel more alive and inspired.

"Nothing but the process is infinite
Eternal, endless, indefinite"

The problems arising on The Archaic Course have been effectively worked out on this disc, though again there are issues with consistency in terms of quality from track to track, and again the album is strongest at its beginning and ending, with a strange emptiness in the middle. The key was to simplify the arrangements, so as to allow the emotional and atmospheric qualities of the music to shine through. It is a stronger album in its formation and execution of ideas, and its song-structures are better suited to bring out the essence of the music, which is a mystifying vigor and entrancing, cosmological aura. This unifies the music and conceptual substance as one expression of metaphysical exploration of universal conflict between the transient, phenomenal manifestations and the infinite process of natural forces. In the analysis of combinations, the extinction of particulars for the maintenance of the whole is understood as necessary in the pulse of time, as entirety rejects the attempts of the deceived. Nonmaterial unification as communicated through modern metal of epic and intelligent conception.

9/2/07

1. Rivalry Of Phantoms
2. The Presence Is Ominous
3. Ruins Of The Future
4. Colossus
5. Inner Landscape
6. Invincible
7. Icon Dreams
8. Genesis Torn
9. Embers
10. Revolt

Borknagar
Empiricism
Century Media, 2001

A new vocalist, Vintersorg, debuts on Borknagar’s fifth album, Empiricism, continuing the band’s tradition of acquiring singers who excel in both pure singing and blackened screaming. Though Vintersorg’s screaming voice lacks a distinctive quality, it capably serves as a functional effect in the music’s aggressive passages. His proper singing voice shines, as his smooth tone and melodic delivery flows like the most crystalline streams throughout this album. It is the melodic aspect of Borknagar’s sound that dominates this effort, the sweet vocal melodies and lucid guitars merged with ambient keyboards sparkling above the fluctuating rhythms. The transparent production supports this feature at the expense of a solid rhythmical weight, but with such swift finesse in execution, the sound is justified. Much of this material is similar to the astral progressive blackened epic metal of Quintessence, though lacking the character and presence of that album, as well as the sense of purpose within the songs that made most of Quintessence an engaging and memorable listen. The music here has no real identifiable emotional dynamic. Everything sounds too pleasant and nice, even during the blast-speed passages. There is an overabundance of symphonic and sometimes even annoyingly carnival-esque keyboards, which drown out the guitars and reduce the power of this band’s sound to empty positive melodies. The sense of cosmic fear and darkness of past albums from this band are essentially absent on Empiricism.

"From every human complexity
And nature’s twisted analogy
An urge to explain - to understand
Springs out with the notion to expand
The narrow view of what we are"

The arrangements are intelligent and the musicianship is fantastic, yet there is a troubling hollowness at the core. The dynamics of tempo are cleverly structured to parallel conceptual concerns, like the pulse of existence in conjunction with elemental forces, yet the emotional essence just fails to come through with any degree of sincerity. A song such as "The Black Canvas" should feel like being lost in wonder at the black infinity of the nighttsky, but sadly comes off as prefabricated and too planned out, with no pure passion fueling the track’s delivery. The philosophical nature of this band has always made for a spiritually inspiring and intellectually stimulating experience, creating excellent metal albums exploring the nature of casualty, existential purpose, the limitations of earthly perspective, the substance of creation, wonder at the unity of nature, and the eternal cycle of the universe, and though each of these themes are investigated on this album, the musical expression is clinical and emotionally vacant.

9/3/07

1. The Genuine Pulse
2. Gods Of My World
3. The Black Canvas
4. Matter & Motion
5. Soul Sphere
6. Inherit The Earth
7. The Stellar Dome
8. Four Element Synchronicity
9. Liberated
10. The View Of Everlast

Borknagar

Century Media

Borknagar Discography:

Borknagar (Malicious, 1996)
The Olden Domain (Century Media, 1997)
The Archaic Course (Century Media, 1998)
Quintessence (Century Media, 2000)
Empiricism (Century Media, 2001)
Epic (Century Media, 2004)
Origin (EMI/Century Media, 2006)