Review by Ben for Borknagar - Borknagar (1996)
An immense, varied and passion-filled black metal album. Borknagar deserves more recognition!
How many times have we heard the dreaded term "supergroup" over the years? So often when that word is thrown around the result ends up being entirely underwhelming. It's as though the individuals involved figure it really doesn't matter what they release as it will sell regardless. Sadly, it normally does! Borknagar are a perfect example of when a "supergroup" really puts the effort in and creates something truly special. Any band containing Garm on vocals (Ulver), Infernus on bass (Gorgoroth), Grim on drums (Immortal) and Ivar Bjørnson on keyboards (Enslaved) sure has a lot to live up to and this debut doesn't disappoint in the slightest. But I think there's one particular reason why this band is so much more than just a side project and that's Øystein G. Brun. While he'd previously performed for death metal band Molested, Borknagar is his pride and joy. He's the man behind the band name (which is based on a myth about a man who climbed a mountain in Scotland) and really, the man behind the band itself.
The band would on later albums move into more progressive metal realms, but on this debut, they perform raw Viking influenced black metal. When I say raw, I'm not talking about Darkthrone minimalism here. It's an extremely intense production where everything seems to be turned up to the max. Garm's vocals are seriously throat ripping, Grim's drumming forcefully brutal and Øystein's riffs are heavily distorted throughout, yet somehow despite such a monstrous sound, everything is clearly audible independently. It's particularly surprising that the bass and keyboards get a look in at all, but their presence is felt at just about all times. Speaking of keyboards, I always assumed that Ivar Bjørnson was contributing guitars to Borknagar as well as the symphonic aspects buy my research tells me that's not the case. His keyboard work here is brilliant though in that it never takes centre stage but always adds dramatically to the atmosphere of the album.
Borknagar only contains five full black metal tracks. All are lengthy and contain stacks of beautiful musicianship and passion galore. The riffs and acoustic passages are what give the album its Viking flavour and while that term is thrown around too much in metal these days, I really do get a sense of battles from a distant past when listening to this. Garm's vocals are more consistently aggressive than on Ulver's Bergtatt debut but he still adds his wonderful clean vocals to proceedings with great success. He really is one of the very great vocalists in the world of metal in my opinion. The other five tracks are instrumentals of varying styles, but instead of merely filling the gaps between the meatier compositions, these are fascinating and beautiful. Ranging from purely electronic to purely acoustic, they make for a varied, captivating listen and give more presence to the surrounding black metal.
Borknagar's debut is an album that I feel deserves more praise than it receives. It's not merely the pure black metal album that they created before expanding their influences. It's the best release in their discography! Anyone into black metal and particularly those that enjoy the more Viking themed entities should track this down immediately. I won't bother mentioning highlight tracks as they are all awesome!