Review by Xephyr for Sojourner - Premonitions (2020)
Monumentally Monotonous
Sojourner have carved out their own special place in my Atmospheric Black Metal catalog thanks to their undeniably smooth and beautiful style that layers waves of folk influences over dark but supple Black Metal riffing. While this formula has been used time and time again by Black Metal influenced Folk Metal bands, Sojourner have had a knack of creating something especially beautiful and especially atmospheric in their previous two albums The Shadowed Road and Empires of Ash. They also distinguish themselves by having two vocalists, one male harsh and one female clean that soars gracefully above the layered instrumentation. Premonitions is a Sojourner fan's dream, giving the listener even more of their signature style, but it comes with the drawback of stagnation as well.
While keeping to their polished and sightly grim style, Premonitions really left me wanting more from Sojourner, even though I loved what I heard. Everything that makes the band great is here, from the aggressive but magnificent tremolo chord progressions, to the soft flute melodies echoing out past the metal section, to the interplay between the male and female vocalist, but none of it is particularly exciting. This is easily their safest album out of the three, with all of the elements feeling a bit derivative and even devolved in certain aspects. The absence of vocal duets between the clean and harsh vocals is very apparent since it was such a huge feature in their first two albums. "The Monolith" and "The Apocalyptic Theater" use it to some success during their respective climaxes and "Talas" is just beautiful in general, but this huge feature is generally missing from the rest of the album, replaced instead by them slowly taking turns in a fairly predictable way. It also showcases how weak the harsh vocals by themselves can be, with the raspy quality of the singer's voice not fitting into the mix too well without assistance from the female vocalist.
Premonitions is predictable in general, which is where it really starts to fall flat, even for a Sojourner fan. Instead of this gorgeous woven landscape of flutes, pianos, and strings dancing around a dark but pleasing Black Metal background, it feels like each section is just taking turns in very planned out 8 to 16 bar structures. I completely understand that's how music is written, but great atmospheric Metal music creates the illusion that the sheet music and theory just isn't there as it takes the listener on whatever journey it has planned. Premonitions feels scripted in a way that is just meant to highlight Sojourner's unique traits and while that's all well and good, it comes off as fabricated instead of organic. There are some surprises here or there like the heaviness of the closer "The Event Horizon" or the masterful ballad "Talas", but in general this album definitely shows some stagnation that I'm not thrilled about.
Don't get me wrong, this is a gorgeous album that I still love listening to just because I enjoy Sojourner's base style and sound, but the flaw of monotony is becoming extremely apparent as they continue to produce material. Even though each of these 7 songs sounds shadowy and elegant I do wish that there was more to it. I hope the band can regain some forward momentum in the coming years as I love hearing Folk elements used for a smoother and prettier approach to Atmospheric Black Metal, since most bands always seem to choose to go the more aggressive route. Even though there's nothing that quite sounds like Sojourner's soaring flutes and vocals atop glossy Black Metal riffs, I think I'm ready to hear something a little different from them.