Review Summary: An absolute epic album that should be considered a classic in all metal circles.
When people think of Norway, or Norwegian black metal more specifically, there's plenty of bands that could come to mind. You have your Darkthrone's, your Mayhem's, and your Burzum's. The ones that brought the scene into the public eye with tales of murder and church burnings and all that good stuff. However, there's a good chance that fans of said bands have never heard of or bothered with this band, Drawn, and their only full-length album,
A New World?. Let me be the first to tell you, this album is a forgotten gem within not only the black metal scene, but metal in general.
To be clear, Drawn aren't a band that are rooted purely in black metal. In fact, you could say that these guys are more progressive than anything else with some black metal elements sprinkled throughout the hour long runtime of
A New World?. The album's opener Rivawella Form reveals that right off the bat. Instead of being thrown into an assault of blast beats and icy riffs, you're eased in with some clean guitar riffs in an almost soothing and relaxing way. Almost as if you're floating on a cloud. This feeling doesn't leave you throughout the length of the album. In fact, all the instruments are rather clean sounding, and that includes the vocals. The drumming is rhythmic and upbeat most of the time and you'll find yourself tapping along. As for the vocals, you get some black metal style screaming. Take for example the beginning of the second track Yours and Mine. For the most part though, the vocals are soaring and almost operatic. Not operatic in a ICS Vortex style, the singing here is quiet almost, but still powerful, if that makes sense. The songs' average lengths are around 7-8 minutes and the music will have you engaged and interested the entire time. Not once will you say to yourself, "I need to skip through this track."
With all of that being said, it's a shame that this album doesn't have more recognition, not only around here, but around the metal scene as a whole. Part of that could be because these guys only released one album and then split, but my main objective with this review is to get some of my fellow Sputnikers to jam this and see how genius it really is. In the Woods.... comparisons are made with this band and it makes sense, but to be honest, this album is way more innovative and majestic than anything I've heard from In the Woods.... So do yourselves a favor, if you're a fan of progressive music, black metal music, or both, add this album to your collection right away. You will not be disappointed.
