Borknagar - The Archaic Course (1998)^{Release ID: 5332}

It took me a while to get to grips with Borknagar's previous release to The Archaic Course and whilst The Olden Domain took time to bed in with me, the thing that kept me coming back to it was the fact that the challenge was much less than the perceived reward.  There was light at the end of the tunnel even on the bits I really didn't understand or instantly get along with.

Sadly that magic is not present on the follow up.  The Archaic Course suffers from being overbearing in terms of composition as opposed to just a bit progressive in structure.  The pace is off for some parts, like they are trying to be cleverer than capability permits and are playing catch up with themselves.  That's not to knock the ambition on display (and they certainly have more than their fair share of good to great albums in the discography to excuse the odd blip) but the delivery falls short of the expectation that such grandiose songwriting and arrangement offers to the eager listener.

Despite being a perfectly regular eight tracks in length, the album feels longer.  Even when not giving it my full attention it seems to meander and almost out stay its welcome.  The songs are concise enough, with around five minutes play time as an average but because they feel so clunky in arrangement they just linger as opposed to undertake any consistent build or development.  The arrival of I.C.S. Vortex on vocals doesn't feel a good fit either despite the similarity to the "off-piste" delivery of Garm/Fiery G. Maelstrom on the previous offering.  They just lack that slight edge of accomplishment by comparison.

I don't hate The Archaic Course but it is one of the bands least memorable offerings that sadly gets little attention as a result.