Borknagar: Fall (2024, Century Media Records)

Talking about a new Borknagar album is without a doubt talking about one of the events of the year. The project founded in Bergen in 1994 by guitarist Øystein G. Brun as a parallel project of his then band Molested would serve as a playground to expand and explore new musical territories, testing all his qualities as a guitarist without losing an ounce of originality which would result in one of the greatest and most interesting debut albums in history, the self-titled Borknagar (1996, Malicious Records).

With the arrival of the vocalist and also bassist ICS Vortex (Arcturus, Lamented Souls) a new path would open in the history of Borknagar that to date seems unpredictable and at the same time exciting since each album of the band pushes the established limits even further as they did outstandingly with their previous studio albums Winter Thrice (2016, Century Media Records) and more recently with True North (2019, Century Media Records), where the band embraces certain new sounds without any fear, delivering two albums that should be mandatory for any music lover in general.

After presenting their guitaristist Jostein Thomassen (Fracture, Viper Solfa) in 2019, having signed drummer Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow (Maahlas, Profane Burial) the previous year together with vocalist Lars A. Nedland and the aforementioned Øystein G. Brun and ICS Vortex give life to the current Borknagar formation, a solid project formed by veteran members of the Nordic scene who have been in all types of bands and who have also played many different genres, which leads us to a new chapter that begins with the birth of Fall (2024, Century Media Records).

The album is presented to us with the powerful and fast Summits, the first preview that the band published a few months ago and which serves as a perfect example of what we can find throughout the album. The melodic first bars of Summits welcome us to the somber environment in which Borknagar moves throughout the album’s 55 minutes just before the raw vocals of ICS Vortex burst in violently, bringing back the Borknagar from his early years. The powerful and guttural voice of ICS Vortex intertwines with that of keyboardist Lars A. Nedland in a very natural way while the drums of Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow and the guitars of Øystein G. Brun and Jostein Thomassen move between the most primal black metal and the melodic metal that Borknagar has built over the years.

The tribal rhythms welcome us to the ancestral side of Borknagar in Nordic Anthem as if it were a ritual, bringing us closer to the animal world in which humans and celestial creatures coexist where Lars A Nedland offers a most opulent vocal show. Borknagar creates a unique atmosphere in this sensational sensory experience where the instrumental part is totally aligned with its interesting message that aims to make the roots of its members very clear and in this way connect everything, the past and the present, narrating the battles fought between mortals and Gods against all those who have wanted to impose their will on others, thus rejecting any type of doctrine that religions and conflicts have wanted to make an impact on our society as the last sentence of Nordic Anthem states: “This is the north, so our people sing: ‘We won’t bend our necks to any god!’“.

Afar‘s slow introduction makes its way slowly but at the same time with a lot of verve, exploding at the right moment with Vortex‘s torn voice, which is quickly joined by Rønnow‘s accelerated drums, giving way to some very good guitar lines. elaborate and with a formidable hook. This is a song that follows in the footsteps of his most recent albums, combining aggressiveness and melody in a perfect sonic tandem with Borknagar‘s own stamp, full of tempo changes that make Afar a totally unpredictable song that simulates a roller coaster of emotions and feelings. The same goes for Moon, the latest preview that was recently published in which there are also some details of Vortex‘s bass before a purely heavy metal guitar solo that makes this song a real delight for the ears.

Mysticism is a recurring theme in Borknagar‘s chronology and Moon is a clear example of how to combine his particular musical proposal with elaborate lyrics such as the following: “Spit fire, raise hell to warm the void one more day. The distance is the key , the closer it seems, over the hill it disappears“. A commendable example of this effort falls on the powerful Stars Ablaze that welcomes the second side of the album where use is made again of this narrative resource that manages to unify the aggressive part of Vortex and the melodic part of Lars A. Nedland in perfect harmony, even introducing some string instruments in the first half of the song to take us to the north where its members wander perennially while vocal lines as overwhelming as “We walk our paths, the maps in our blood. Fathers and sons, in the absence of god. The starlit sky, our undying guide. We march our stitches, our spirits abide“.

Unlike in Stars Ablaze, the powerful Unraveling makes its way towards us, reminiscent in some way of the already famous Up North anthem from their previous work. Nedland‘s keyboards star in the intro before settling into the depths of our being, once again combining the voices of the aforementioned Nedland and Vortex while guitarists Øystein G. Brun and Jostein Thomassen delight us with their powerful six-string technique. This is a small moment of tranquility whose last section goes into a crescendo while Vortex and Rønnow gradually revolutionize the rhythm section until exploding in a musical climax that serves as a prelude to the deep and sentimental The Wind Lingers, where nature, landscapes spacious and the vast vegetation floods everything that our vision encompasses.

Borknagar manages to capture the essence of the landscapes of northern Europe in a masterful way thanks to the voices of its vocalists who, in The Wind Lingers, offer perhaps one of their best work as vocalists to date without detracting from any of their bandmates.

The highlight of the album comes with Northward, a musical epic that lasts almost ten minutes and is the longest song of their career to date. As if it were a mystical journey through the stars, Borknagar brings together the best of its components and gives us one of Fall’s most powerful songs that we can enjoy at all times and that synthesizes the magnetism of five musicians in its maximum splendour. Vortex‘s cold voice is complemented again by that of his partner Nedland, more mellow and juicy that counteracts Thomassen‘s icy guitars, giving a certain prominence to the melodic part of the genius Øystein G. Brun. The mundane and the spiritual come together in this glorious song where black metal and progressive folk with Viking overtones are Borknagar‘s alma mater and reason for being.

Fall manages to condense the best of Borknagar thanks to the very successful production of Jens Bogren (Amorphis, Enslaved) who provides an additional layer of depth as he already did in the band’s previous works since he started working with them on Urd (2012, Century Media Records). Special mention deserves the designer Eliran Kantor who has managed to capture the essence of an album like Fall with his spectacular art that gives life to the album cover, this being his first work with Borknagar and which I also hope he repeats in the future with the Norwegian quintet. Fall stands as a fundamental pillar in Borknagar‘s career who once again makes history by setting the tone with an emotional journey full of nuances that should be listened to ad nauseam.

Tracklist:

1. Summits (07:58)
2. Nordic Anthem (05:14)
3. Afar (06:54)
4. Moon (05:51)
5. Stars Ablaze (08:26)
6. Unraveling (04:33)
7. The Wild Lingers (05:34)
8. Northward (09:54)

Borknagar will soon be performing at the Inferno Festival where he will also be presenting the new songs that are part of his 12th studio album, Fall. You can buy your tickets on the festival’s official website.