You never knew quite what you were going to get with an Ereb Altor release a few years ago, as they strived to find their own course and identity, pushing away from the main member’s other band Isole. But as Ereb Altor started to gain more and more focus, becoming very much a unit in its own right they started to nail things down. Finding what must be their spiritual home with Hammerheart has seemingly given them that added confidence to be whatever they wanted, and ironically, the platform to experiment and push that tried and trusted Bathory blueprint further and further.
So here they are in 2021 with a diverse new 4 track EP, containing a Moonsorrow feeling opener (nicely carrying on where previous album “Järtecken” left off), then also the title track that Blackens things up a little more, whilst still staying true to that Pagan/Viking Metal style their fans love them for and rounding out with ‘Sacrifice 2.0’, a track based on ‘Sacrifice’ from 2013’s “Fire Meets Ice”, but used here to display how the current, tighter, more mature line-up would handle such a track – a braver line-up, that feels confident enough to squeeze in a hint of Grand Magus alongside their own naturally epic style.
But of course, that’s only 3 tracks – this is because I have yet to mention the bravest addition to the band’s sound to date, a quite frankly gorgeous clean sung, violin laden acoustic track, that is basically just missing a raging campfire to gaze into with a winter sunset backdrop. Executed brilliantly with underlying Dark Folk elements, the thought and attention to detail that has gone into crafting this poignant track is certainly a new level for this ever-growing Metal band. As a 4 track appetite-whetting taster of things to come, this EP shows a band not only stamping their authority and identity on their previous sound, but excitingly willing to push things even further. After an already entertaining back catalogue, the future looks even more interesting for Ereb Altor.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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