Discounting the split released in 2012 this is Alastor’s third full length and some nine years since “Noble North” came out which gave me my first experience of this Austrian band. “Noble North” was a competent affair, offering melodic black metal that stayed within narrow parameters to maintain a safe approach overall but enjoyable all the same. 2016 sees the band complete the trilogy of albums that began with “Silva Nordica” and continued with the aforementioned “Noble North”. Waiting some nine years for the finale is a bit of a stretch on most people’s patience and I like many others probably buried the band into our collections gathering dust.
Is it worth the wait I hear you cry and being blunt the answer is no, again Alastor tread a well worn path within melodic black metal that begins with “Old Glacial Lake”. Spirited and energetic the opening tune is a decent with a scything riff and blasted drums initially before restraining the speed as the lyrics are spat. The sequencing of periodic drops in pace are engaging as is the clean vocal narration which adds texture and a theatrical feel.
“Army Of The North” continues the album with a despondent riff following a vocal roar as the lethargic drum beat creates a funereal atmosphere until a breaking riff interrupts and cranks up the pace. There are many bands releasing material similar to this from Alastor as the title track (which incidentally is a woodland region within the Bohemian forest) produces an excellent melody that has some longevity. The barren production gives the release a more genuine black metal aura being stripped back for the most part but not languishing within a treble infestation. “Waldmark” as a whole project is a decent release but like the sophomore it’s staying power is likely to be limited due to overt similarity to masses of bands writing this kind of black metal and comparatively the band is like Imperium Dekadenz but also Winterfylleth to a degree. I can’t fault the melodies of songs like “Lords Of The Bohemian Forest” and “Fellwood” being sharply executed and possessing an inherent authenticity that I enjoyed for the 40 minutes or so this album lasts for. Will I still be playing this towards the end of 2016, possibly but more likely not but in the scheme of today’s black metal scene this is as good as anything offered by any melodic black metal outfit and fans of this sub-genre should embrace it.
(7.5/10 Martin Harris)
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