I thought I was pretty clued up when it came to black metal, especially atmospheric black metal, but I have to hang my head in shame and admit Friisk were a new proposition to me even though they have an EP and a split with French black metal outfit Loth under their belt.
Here on their debut full length, they effortlessly blend the old school German black metal sound with more contemporary atmosphere and melody to great effect. Furthermore, the lyrics are mostly in German (except for a couple of tracks where Low German and Sater Frisian are used) which adds to the atmosphere and mystique.
The album opens with a subdued instrumental piece, rich with melancholy as it builds and a more haunting undercurrent takes hold leading straight into ‘Dem Wind Entgegen’ where incisive riffs lead to a blood curdling howl as things really get going. Raw and evocative vocals sit atop dense pummelling black metal while the underpinning melody retains just enough prominence to add depth. This is abrasive and yet atmospheric. The barrage gives way to a soothing keyboard interlude, which only serves to add to the intensity when things kick back in. There is a real air of desperation and desolation as the track builds towards the end. The momentum is kept up with ‘Hoat’ which launches straight into an oppressive aural battery, before the foot comes off the accelerator allowing the sublime majestic melodies to come to the fore once more, effectively juxtaposed with anguished growls and howls. The track really draws you in and for all of its vitriol, it is somehow calming.
There is brief respite in the form of ‘Versunken’, an instrumental passage which is full of poignant sorrow before a militaristic drum beat and sinister passage of growled, anguished vocals leads into ‘Mauern Aus Nebel’. This slowly builds in pace and intensity as it progresses, but maintains a militaristic feel through its stomping rhythm. This gradually winds down into a hypnotic, claustrophobic dirge.
A frantic opening heralds ‘Torügg Bleev Blot Sand’ before majestic melody once more takes prominence and as the track builds it achieves the perfect balance of harshness and atmosphere. The track takes over eight minutes to evolve and build and morph and covers a lot of ground as it passes by in a flash.
The album is brought to a close with the ‘Fiebertraum’, an (almost) eleven-minute opus which centres more on more mid paced, sombre elements for the first half or so until a short minimal interlude leads into the track picking up the pace for a blistering finale before an instrumental outro brings the track and album to a close.
Atmospheric black metal is a strange beast….done well and it is absolutely majestic, but there are a lot of bands out there that try without doing it particularly well and it can take a lot of sieving to find the occasional gold nugget……Friisk are one such gold nugget and they have set the bar very high with their debut.
This is atmospheric black metal of the highest order and I have revisited the album numerous times already and suspect I will continue to do so for a long time to come. I expect to hear a lot more from this camp.
(9/10 Andy Pountney)
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