The Melodic Black Metal Thread

Windir - "Arntor" (1999)

I distinctly remember not really liking Windir's 1999 sophomore album for one reason or another going back twelve years to the time that I first encountered it, but the tendency towards completism got the better of me once again here & saw me affording it another chance to win me over. I won't keep you in suspense though & can tell you very confidently that it hasn't & won't win me over in the future.

Windir are generally advertised as a melodic black metal artist but I think it's more accurate to say that "Arntor" sits somewhere between the melodic, symphonic & Pagan black metal subgenres with a significant folk metal component also playing a part in the overall package. The symphonic element is probably the band's strength here as the keyboard sounds are generally of a high quality & do a pretty good job at masking the weak & inadequate rhythm guitar sound. The folk elements are very off-putting for me though with tracks like "Byrjing", "Arntor, ein windir" & the God-awful Isengard-inspired "Kampen" really seeing me struggling. The band fair much better when they stick to a black metal based sound with the guitar melodies being quite strong when they're not folk-driven, despite the fact that they sound unusually positive & uplifting for a black metal act. The Viking metal component is generally overstated & is really only represented in the chanty clean vocals. 

Don't get me wrong. "Arntor" certainly has it's moments (particularly in the two lengthier pieces in "Saknet" & album highlight "Svartesmeden og Lundamyrstrollet", both of which I quite like) however I unfortunately can't seem to escape a general feeling of discomfort when listening to Windir's more light-weight & melodic take on the black metal sound. Plus, I make no secret about my aversion to the whole folk metal thing so I probably should have listened to my gut & let dead dogs lie with this record.

For fans of Mistur, Cor Scorpii & Vreid.

2.5/5

Dawn - "Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)" (1998)

This was my first revisit to Swedish melodic black metaller Dawn's third & final full-length in quite a while & I was quickly reminded of why I've always regarded them as one of the premier exponents of the sound. There's not a lot of experimentation going here but neither does there need to be with the quality of the material being consistently strong throughout. The album is made up of six lengthy tracks of around ten minutes each plus a short two minute folk piece. The 60 minute run time is certainly a little ambitious but there's enough variation in tempo to keep me well & truly engaged. Every track offers moments that see Dawn traversing the sort of territory that's generally reserved for the top tier black metal acts but unfortunately they can't quite get through a track without throwing in a flat beat or a dud melody to bring them back to the tier twos. There's a consistent energy to the drumming that I really enjoy while front man Henke Forss possesses a great black metal growl that sits somewhere between Carcass' Jeff Walker & Emperor's Ihsahn. That's not the only Emperor reference here either as the Norwegian symphonic black metal godfathers were clearly a major influence on Dawn, as were melodic black metal champions Dissection for that matter only Dawn steer well clear of the melodeath elements that perpetuate their idol's sound. The more blasting sections are unsurprisingly the more appealing parts of Dawn's sound for me personally but Hyporcisy/Bloodbath/Lindemann main man Peter Tägtgren has done a splendid job with the glistening production job which gives "Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)" some additional accessibility. If you love your meloblack then this should be essential listening.

4/5

For this weekend's top ten list I decided to go for my Top Ten Melodic Black Metal Releases of All Time. See what you think. There are certainly some surprises in there:

01. Dissection – “Storm Of The Light’s Bane” (1995)

02. Rotting Christ – “Non Seriam” (1994)

03. Mare Cognitum – “Solar Paroxysm” (2021)

04. Les Chat de Nihil – “Le tyran et l’esthete” (2021)

05. Dawn – “Slaughtersun (Crown Of The Triarchy)” (1998)

06. Keep of Kalessin – “Reclaim” E.P. (2003)

07. Iskald – “The Sun I Carried Alone” (2011)

08. Naglfar – “Teras” (2012)

09.  Abigail Williams - "In The Absence Of Light" (2010)

10. Dissection - "The Somberlain" (1993)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/164

The only album from a band I enjoy that's close to melodic black metal is Underoath's Cries of the Past, and that album I strongly believe doesn't qualify for that subgenre. More info in this judgement submission: https://metal.academy/forum/28/thread/1104

OK, I'll give it a go:

1. Kvist - For kunsten maa vi evig vike (1996)

2. Ancient - Svartalvheim (1994)

3. Les Chants de Nihil - Le tyran et l'esthète (2021)

4. Melechesh - The Epigenesis (2010)

5. Windir - Likferd (2003)

6. Dawn - Nær sólen gar niþer for evogher (2004)

7. Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane (1995)

8. Vinterland - Welcome My Last Chapter (1996)

9. Véhémence - Par le sang versé (2019)

10. Rotting Christ - Non Serviam (1994)

Sacramentum - "Far Away From The Sun" (1996)

All of our regulars are probably aware of my struggles with subgenres that hold the word "melodic" in front of them by now so I don't think too many people will be expecting to see me dishing out grand declarations of love for Swedish meloblack Sacramentum's debut album. I first encountered it back at the time of release & found it mildly enjoyable without ever threatening to become a regular on my playlist at the time. Nothing much has changed in that respect either. A 3.5/5 is my scoring system cut-off point for releases that I find much interest in & this one was right on the cusp of falling into the 3/5 abyss. The reason it didn't is probably to do with the well composed & executed guitar work which possesses a suitable amount of Scandinavian atmosphere & complexity. The black metal shrieks are fairly middling due to their generic nature but the main offender that sees me being tempted to discard this album altogether is the drumming which is both a little too light-weight in style & more than a little short of the competency line in terms of execution. Just check out a track like "Obsolete Tears" to hear a skinsman struggling to stay in time! Thankfully there's enough class in the rest of the instrumentation to overcome those concerns though & I'd be surprised if any disciples of bands like Dissection, Dawn & Naglfar don't find plenty to enjoy (the former so obviously being the major influence here).

3.5/5

Windir - "1184" (2001)

Yes, you're right to think what you're thinking when seeing me post yet another lacklustre appraisal of a highly regarded melodic XXX metal release. I readily admit that I struggle with the more melodic branches of extreme metal at times & probably have no real right to play in this space but I think you all know that I'm a completist by now so I simply MUST have an opinion on literally everything. I'm difficult in that way but Ben's not much different & perhaps that's the reason that Metal Academy exists in the first place so them's the breaks I'm afraid. Anyway... I'm not a fan of Windir & never have been. Their "classic" breakthrough album "Arntor" did nothing for me & neither did this follow-up record which received pretty similar plaudits from critics & fans alike. From memory this one is a little less Pagan & symphonic but it attempts a few new things such as the inclusion of four minutes of trancey electronic music to close the album out. When Windir play to their darker side you can see that they showed some promise & there are a couple of tracks that I quite like (namely "Destroy" & "The Spiritlord") but they simply fall into melodic excess far too often to keep me engaged with the keyboards being the culprits more often than not. The musicianship & execution is spot on although the drumming isn't the most accomplished you'll find while the production job is perfectly suited to this style of music. Once again I just can't see myself getting past my issues with the melodic black metal subgenre with only rare instances of me getting onboard.

For fans of Mistur, Cor Scorpii & Vindland.

2.5/5

Windir - "Likferd" (2003)

Norwegian melodic black metallers Windir & I have had a very rocky relationship over the years since I first encountered them very late in my late 1990’s tape trading days. I can vaguely remember digging their 1997 debut album “Sóknardalr” at the time however the melodic black metal movement was still in somewhat of a honeymoon period so it's appeal may have been a touch stronger than it is now that it's been so long since Dissection first ripped us all a new one. I didn’t come into contact with Windir’s more widely celebrated records until 2009 when I took in their three subsequent full-lengths in quick succession with none of them offering me very much in the way of enjoyment. Their accessible & often folky take on the black metal model was very much at odds with my own feelings on what black metal should ultimately be so I found myself struggling significantly the majority of the time. 1999’s “Arntor” & 2001’s “1184” did nothing for me whatsoever but I do have some recollection of Windir’s appeal slowly growing with each release with their final effort “Likferd” coming closest to the mark so this month’s feature release represents a good opportunity to firm up my position on what would ultimately prove to be Windir’s swansong.

Let’s be very clear from the onset, not a lot had changed in the two years since “1184”. Windir had maintained their six-piece lineup & their label Head Not Found Records must have been very happy with the reception for the previous album as they once again engaged former Thou Shalt Suffer bassist Torbjørn Akkerhaugen to produce the band’s fourth full-length album “Likferd” at Akkerhaugen Lydstudio so they were clearly looking to repeat the same formula that had been so successful for them previously. The result is a stunningly glossy sounding record that is as easy on the ear as any black metal release you’re likely to find. The performances are also outstanding with all of the parts being executed with precision. Admittedly the band stay relatively within themselves & keep things uncluttered in the interest of maximum accessibility but I’d still suggest that current Vreid & former Cor Scorpii drummer Steingrim could possibly have upped the ante a bit as his beats are a little lacking in the extremity we’ve come to expect from the genre over the years.

One of the elements that I couldn’t deal with about Windir’s sound previously was their tendency to tip-toe along the borders of the folk metal subgenre. I think most of our regulars will be well aware of my hatred for the vast majority of folk metal releases so I doubt that’ll come as a surprise. Thankfully though, “Likferd” sees Windir keeping their distance from the folk melodies for the most part which was a most welcome discovery. They also indulge in a little more traditional black metal savagery which was also well received with the tracks that offered me the most appeal unsurprisingly matching up with those moments very accurately. There’s still a lot more unintimidating use of melody than I’m comfortable with on “Likferd” though so let’s not get too excited just yet. They’re very much the epitome of the subgenre actually & often accentuate their more epic moments with some borderline cheesy keyboards to further test my patience. Valfar’s vocals aren’t particularly interesting either. They simply sound like ten thousand other black metal front men & don’t stand out all that much due to the fact that I’ve heard it all so many times before.

In fairness, the tracklisting gets off to a decent start with opener “Resurrection of the Wild” being pretty enjoyable. The next four tracks aren’t awful but I can’t say that they offered me too much in the way of appeal. Then we get to album highlight “On The Mountain of Goats” though which is a very solid black metal outing indeed & may even be my favourite Windir track overall to tell you the truth. It's no surprise that it's the least popular track on the album which should tell you something about my compatibility with a band like Windir. At this point I was wondering whether “Likferd” might actually be able to drag a decent score out of me which is a feat that Windir had never come close to achieving in the past. Unfortunately that’s where things descend fairly rapidly though with the last two songs (“Dauden” & “Ætti mørkna”) being absolutely none of my business & ensuring that the album would once again fall on the wrong side of my quality cut-off point.

Look, I don’t think anyone expected me to be dishing out any four-star ratings for a release that sounds like this one but I have to say that Windir had improved a touch with each of their last couple of records being better than the last. It’s perhaps a shame then that band leader Valfar would pass away before he’d had the opportunity to create the release that would eventually see me finally accepting his art. The rest of the band would go on to take part in other Norwegian melodic black metal bands like Mistur, Cor Scorpii & Vreid after Windir disbanded & if you dig those acts then you’ll likely get a lot out of “Likferd” than I do.

3/5

Unanimated - "In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" (1993)

My earliest memories of Sweden's Unanimated go back to the discovery of their debut album "In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" while visiting Neuropath vocalist Mark Wangmann's house some time in 1993. I'd been following the early attempts at a more melodic brand of death metal for a little while by that point but this particular record was a little different in that it seemed to have a foot in black metal territory too. The idea appealed to me quite a bit so I ripped a copy of "In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" for myself & gave it a fair few listens that year. My enjoyment of that release also saw me following Unanimated through their three subsequent full-lengths, all of which are worth hearing, particularly their 1995 sophomore album "Ancient God of Evil" which I'm a big fan of & tends to be my Unanimated release of choice these days. Perhaps that's the reason that I haven't returned to "In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" since the 1990's but I remember it fondly & have been looking forward to seeing how it's aged for some time now. I've also been interested to see if it might prove to have been a significant player in the development of the melodic black metal scene as I remembered it being a lot more blackened than some websites would have you believe in the current day.

"In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" is a fairly raw affair although the compositions are professionally put together & have a certain class about them, particularly for the time. My recollections were spot on too in that this is most certainly a melodic black/death metal hybrid. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that there's more black metal included than there is death metal which is in direct contrast to the general consensus. A lot of this material sounds uncannily like Swedish melodic black metal godfathers Dissection as well, so much so that there are more than a few sections that border on plagiarism &, given that "In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" was released in February 1993 & Dissection's legendary "The Somberlain" debut album was released in December 1993, I'm gonna have to throw a cat amongst the pigeons by suggesting that perhaps Dissection may have sounded a fair bit different if not for the influence of Unanimated.

The musicianship is pretty decent but was still clearly a work in progress, particularly the blast-beats of Peter Stjärnvind (Krux/Merciless/Black Trip/Entombed/Murder Squad/Nifelheim/Pest/Regurgitate) which were still fairly primitive in their execution. I enjoy the vocals of Micke Jansson & find them to sit further over into the black metal camp than they do the death metal one, often even hinting at a Darkthrone-ish croak. The consistent use of higher-register, tremolo-picked melodies from guitarists Jonas Mellberg (Therion) & Johan Bohlin (Desultory) is a real strength for Unanimated & is probably the best thing about the album with the more solid tracks like "Blackness of the Fallen Star", "Through The Gates", "Mournful Twilight" & the title track all being littered with memorable melodic hooks. Interestingly though, my favourite track is the short ambient interlude "Silence Ends" which kicks off the B side. I'm a big fan of ambient music & this example could easily have been stolen from a professionally produced ambient record. As is often the case, it's only one of the more popular songs that I struggle with in the Viking metal period Bathory inspired "Cold Northern Breeze" which I find to be pretty cheesy really. The choice to close out the album with a cover version of Venom's classic "Buried Alive" was a strange one too but thankfully the band pull it off pretty well, even if it's heavy metal style does sound a little out of place on an extreme metal release.

Overall, "In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" was a pretty decent way for Unanimated to kick off their recording career. It was also fairly groundbreaking in the sound they'd developed for themselves, even at this early stage. The execution isn't perfect & the song-writing could have done with a bit of a polish but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying this entertaining (if inessential) Swedish release.

For fans of Dissection, Necrophobic & Gates of Ishtar.

3.5/5