Nattverd - Vandring (2021)^{Release ID: 27874}

Initially, Yandring sat higher in my esteem than it turns out it actually needed to be.  Whether I was over-captivated by that haunting artwork ahead of any real sense of quality in the music remains a mystery, but having spent more time with it over recent days it is clear that all is not as well as I had originally thought.  Now, this is not to say that this is a bad record.  Whilst it may be flawed, Yandring still has its successes in the fact that holds the attention and makes for an entertaining listen at various points.

Unfortunately though, the album suffers badly from a consistent regurgitation of black 'n roll coupled with the occasional dash of variety in the form of some vague folk or atmospheric dash to change the pace momentarily.  It is not even that at forty-two minutes the album is particularly overly lengthy, more that its inability to stretch its legs on any regular basis makes it feel longer than it actually is.

Vocally it is predictable and instrumentation wise it pushes no boundaries, and whilst it does conventional black 'n roll well enough this is not a sub-genre that is exactly known for captivation and longevity.  If the album could live up to that desolate artwork then this would have been a far more interesting outing, as it stands though it is a collection of black 'n roll occasionally interrupted by some surge into other realms that is does not sound entirely comfortable inhabiting.  For a more honest showing of the sub-genre I would refer you dear reader to Mork's latest offering which is an unapologetic exploration of its own comfort zone instead of this almost shameful delivery of what feels more like a guilty pleasure.