Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Óreiða - The Eternal (2023)

If the prospect of an entirely instrumental atmospheric black metal fills you with as much dread as it did me then you could be forgiven for giving up on this review and heading away to look for something else to tickle your atmo-black requirements. Fact is though, I nearly missed a real treat. As recommendations from internet acquaintances go, Óreiða has been a neat find. There’s an undeniable charm to the Paysage d’Hiver-like passages that inhibit these five songs.

One-man black metal outfits are not rare. In a playing field that has long been overcrowded, Óreiða’s unique selling point is the entirely instrumental approach to their sound. Without the familiar cold and harsh vocal style associated with most atmospheric black metal there is arguably little room for hiding if your instrumentation skills are not up to the mark. Thankfully, the atmospherics and instrumentation fill this void with a deftness that at times makes them sound like they are choral vocals. Deploying a dungeon synth style over those big riffs works well. The sense of the music constantly pushing into the negative space, injecting a dank sense of melody is tangible throughout The Eternal.

Residing on the legendary Debemur Morti Productions for this his third record, Þórir G. Jónsson sounds at home on a label roster that includes so many other atmospheric black metal aficionados. The desperation in the whining drone that accompanies the opening two minutes of The River is a delirium inducing sound that you would normally associate with most BAN releases. Serving the dual purpose of unsettling wane and focal background point at the same time, I also found the instrumentation to be sounding perfectly balanced around it, giving a sense of completeness to the track. It was obvious to me by track two just how little I was missing the vocals.

The production job is well-delivered without being too polished. Retaining the thinnest levels of murkiness aids the authenticity factor of the sound with the lush atmospherics and powerful sound of the guitars set against the maelstrom of percussion doing more than enough to give the listener that fully rounded experience. Each track’s title appears to be done a real justice by the sound. The dizzying guitars of The Apex are testimony to this point. It is The Eternal’s ability to tell a story without the use of lyrics to frame it that is one of the most impressive feats that the album achieves. On paper I should be bored to tears but instead I am utterly enchanted.