Obviously, The Danes know a fair bit about Vikings, so it stands to reason that Denmark’s very own Vanir would know their way around a Viking Metal album. And so they should, this is after all their sixth studio album, released just over ten years since their impactful debut. Vanir made their musical intentions clear early in their career and have tried not to veer too far from their roots with each subsequent album, choosing to refine their sound gradually, and the band’s latest epic offering ‘Sagas’ sees them once more at the top of their game.
Six albums in sees Vanir in familiar, aggressively belligerent territory. Still evident are the super-smooth Melodic Death/Viking stock of Amon Amarth, Thrudvangar or Unleashed, but one of Vanir’s strengths is the way they inject those subtle folk elements that in the blink of an eye can take you from Melodic Death Metal and suddenly have you thinking about Moonsorrow, Einherjer or fellow countrymen Svartsot. But when you’re on your sixth album, it’s pretty fair to say that this album is mostly just reminiscent of Vanir. The vocals are as angry and venomous as we have grown accustomed to since Martin Rubini (Håkan) took over back in 2013, with the thundering rhythm section as unrelenting and as powerful as you could want.
The ways the two guitars work – the heavy, driving rhythm with the more melody-laden lead moments – is also becoming a strong part of Vanir’s sound since the introduction of Iron Fire’s Kirk Backarach on 2016’s “Aldar Rok” and this is an area that the band are exploiting even further on “Saga’s”. Whether it’s the dark blackened depths of the ‘Eindriði ‘ or the more upbeat Ensiferum-flavoured ‘Sessrúmnir’ (these two tracks are together on the album as further examples of how the band can switch mood effortlessly), melody is always delivered with aggression and the album never loses it’s power and fury. “Sagas” is Vanir at their roaring best, doing what they are known for – and then some, blending all that animosity with experience to deliver Viking Metal as they know it should be delivered.
(8/10 Andy Barker)
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