Review Summary: 10 percent black metal, 90 percent atmosphere.
Eldamar. A name that invokes mysticism, bringing to mind elvish warriors in ironclad armor clashing steel with orcs. Fairly so, being that Eldamar IS the name of the land of the elves in Lord of the Rings. With all this in mind, there are two questions that are likely to pop up, those being 1)- Does this rip off Summoning, and 2)-How much does this rip off Summoning. The answers to those questions are 1)-no, and 2)-not at all. To make things clear, yes, they are an atmospheric black metal band (heavy emphasis on “atmosphere”). Yes, they do love keyboards. However, the comparisons end there, and I would even go as far as saying this band isn’t comparable to many other black metal bands at all. Does this, however, mean this is a good album? Well...almost.
The album kicks off in traditional Eldamar fashion, utilizing basic fuzzy guitar riffs, howling, distant harsh vocals, and perhaps the most melodious keyboard I have ever heard. It’s all rather lovely, making for a soothing listen that is certainly good at luring one to sleep, however that is quite a double-edged sword in itself. This is because what Eldamar does on
A Dark Forgotten Past is take one singular idea and let it run throughout the entirety of an 8-10 minute track, and, to a lesser extent, the entire album. I will give credit where it is due- this isn’t quite as much a loop of an album as their previous effort, likely due to the inclusion of occasional blast beats, which gives the album a kick it so desperately needs. However, this still isn’t quite enough to stop the album from blending together and becoming something of a chore, simply because it is that goddamn repetitive.
As much as I have seemingly portrayed this in a negative light however, the albums core sound is just barely enjoyable enough to make this not a total dud. As monotonous as it gets, this album is certainly eloquent and I can definitely see why someone would derive enjoyment from this. It is essentially “easy listening” black metal, meaning if you are looking for something basic in nature that you can simply tune out to, this is almost certainly something you may be looking for. For this listener however, the image of Tolkien’s fantasy that this band attempts to mirror just narrowly cuts it, which is enough. I guess.
