Utgard
Thrones and Dominions ()
Wydane przez No Sign Of Life/Hammer Of Hate Records/Metalhit.comRok wydania Kraj NorwayNapisał Wouter6
In Germanic mythology Utgard is the land of giants. Utgard released their debut in limited quantities in 2006 through Die Todesrune Records and Mirgilus Siculorum. On their second album “Thrones and Dominions” Utgard sound like (early) Satyricon, down to the Satyr Wongraven like trollish vocals and medieval synthesizers. The music is played mostly at midpace with long drawn out melodies, epic riffing and tasteful drumming that contrast most bands in the black metal scene. “Thrones and Dominions” is a well played genre exercise, yet everything in there has been done already by the legendary Satyricon on their first three records: “Dark Medieval Times”, “The Shadowthrone” and “Nemesis Divina”. Additionally does Utgard miss the strong songwriting craft that their inspirations have and the lack of extra instruments to accentuate the epic part of their black metal. The closing piano part in ‘Blood on the Stones’ is nice but comes too late to really add something to the record. There are two short instrumental interludes as well, but they are never really explored thus leaving little impact. “Thrones and Dominions” feels like only half of what it could have been due to the simplistic riffing, the expected chord progressions. Had the material of this record been nurtured more closely this could have been the next underground gem for the genre. As it stands now the album is definitely better than a lot of records out there, but it doesn’t stand out enough to truly call it anything but mildly appealling at best.
www.no-sign-of-life.com
