Review Summary: Epic Viking Metal that.. ahem slays
Like ships passing in the night, I have somehow missed Ereb Altor’s 20 year career. Of the hundreds of bands I have listened to or merely heard of in the last two decades, none of them was Ereb Altor. Not a great surprise in itself but what was a shock was how fast and how hard this album hit. Apparently their 10th album, “Hälsingemörker” introduced to me a band firing on all cylinders with their style of epic Viking metal.
Heralded in by “Valkyrian Fate”, this is a battle cry if ever I’ve heard one with “In times of fire! In times of war!” bellowing over sharp riffs and integrated leads. The Swedes lay an immediate platform for the uninitiated, which lends to an accessibility not often found on first spin. Not to be content with a single hook, the song bridges into heavier epic territory halfway through and already this is stirring.
Prevailing winds swirl in the lead up to the title track before cutting through with a pair of monster riffs that continue the Viking voyage. The melodies are buoyant and the feeling expectant, with the song carefully inserted early in the track listing. The harmonized vocal melodies give the riffs timing and purpose and leads to a clever momentum delay and ensuing fortification.
As a big fan of clean sounding melodic metal, the guitars are the centrepiece of albums like this. And that they are here. In saying that, the other ingredients are not subservient but integral with the bass, drums and synths proficiently plied and expertly mixed in. The vocals are of course critical but the combinations of clean and harsh delivered by the three standing members suit this music to the ground. Or to the sky more aptly as their soaring nature is meant to lift the spirit of the listener as is achieved in “Ättestupan”. I point towards recent albums by fellow Scandinavian dreamers Borknagar and Strange New Dawn as reference points for this album, the latter heard in epic firebrands like “Vi Är Mörkret”, an album highlight.
But there is no greater album peak than the following “Träldom” which sweeps you up instantly and again sets sail on a path of glory. The carriage of tremolo picking and then more urgent riffing are almost transcendent and to this reviewer a perfect 7 minutes of metal music. To follow, Ereb Altor, or more precisely Mats of Ereb Altor (lead vocals and guitars) as the sole writer of the music and lyrics gives us the brooding “The Waves, The Sky and the Pyre” to provide a fitting counter. The toms and keyboards carry the atmosphere through to give a sense of Viking recuperation and reconnaissance before the final assault.
And the last stand beckons with “The Last Step”, an acceptance of death and passage to Valhalla. Honour and valour are of greatest importance with blood shed on the battlefield for the cause. I can sense Bathory’s “A Fine Day to Die” in spirit and execution and there’s no greater tribute than to the originator of Viking metal with the closing refrain “We’re on the last step to Valhalla’s gate, Nowhere to hide, We can succeed, We will redeem”…
