I’ve been lucky enough to review a fair amount of Ereb Altor’s albums over the years – they were actually one of the first bands I reviewed back in 2013 when I’d recently joined the hallowed ranks of Ave Noctum. An ever-evolving band, I’ve seen them explore, experiment, side-step and bend their Pagan/Viking Metal style in various directions, until 2019’s “Järtecken”, which seemed a more focused and single-minded release, This was a band who had found their sound and were ready to expand on it. Continuing to evolve, “Vargtimman” does indeed expand on “Järtecken” and pushes their sound even further.
Fans of the band’s earlier work will still find doses of Bathory-ness to latch on to, but the maturity and diversity the band now display with apparent ease shines through all the time. Yes, the songs are diverse, but never stray too far from an Epic Pagan Metal musical blue print – yet still pushes the brand to its edges. Driving, intense riffs, mix effortlessly with melancholy passages, that can easily give way in turn to heavy, pounding epic Metal. The vocals too have taken another step forward, bringing extra dimensions to each track. The clean vocals have improved once more, gaining a more deserved confidence, but the way they are interspersed with equally more confident harsh vocals of varying types, helps to enable each song to gain a further unpredictable quality.
That unpredictability is now an Ereb Altor trade mark of course. You just don’t where a song will turn – it could explode easily into stark Pagan/Black, yet is just as likely to morph into a down-beat dark journey of sorrow and despair or into an epic anthem. Or anything in between. Nothing jars though, it flows from one aspect to another, whilst keeping a core track identity. ‘Rise Of The Destroyer’ for instance kicks off in a very heavy Pagan/Black style, with pounding rhythms, biting riffs and littered with harsh vocals, maintaining an air of that throughout. The following track ‘Alvablot’ is instantly a clean voice led journey of epic-ness, that stomps and strides its way ever forward, unapologetic and unyielding. But neither do it in a way that you would instantly expect. That’s just two examples, but right there is what Ereb Altor are about. Yes, maybe they used to be a little unsure of their future path, but now they have found it, woe betide anyone who stands in their way.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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