Watching a band’s journey is something as a reviewer and fan I particularly enjoy. Today we look to a band whom I have formed quite the connection with over the years. That band is Ofdrykkja, their debut A Life Worth Losing is a striking slab of DSBM brilliance and arguably one of my favorites from the genre as a whole. However, their slow descent towards more Folk based music has been steady and equally brilliant. Their third record Gryningsvisor stripping back a lot of the bands Black Metal roots. It would appear that this is the blueprint of things to come as we indulge in the bands fourth full length effort After The Storm from AOP Records.
Seemingly wanting to up the atmospheric edge of the prior record this release opens with The Light. A soft, acoustic, peaceful and almost Folk piece. It is comforting, not traditionally Black Metal and well suited for the rest of the album to come. Hårgalåten flows in with added degrees of dare I use the term Viking or Pagan Folk, perhaps even a degree of Neofolk. The female vocals are a delight amongst the deep woodland tones of the surrounding instrumentation. Bringing in further bearded vigor comes The Mære, another epic tale of relaxation and atmosphere, the male vocal is a definite image of Viking might and makes otherwise non-Metal music appear highly alternative and outsider.
In a further continuation of lack of Black Metal the title track steps in. There isn’t a great deal to add from prior songs. I would however say that this newer direction works effortlessly with the band’s sound. It would appear that the best way to stand out in your base genre is to all but ditch it entirely. The Cleansing comes through as perhaps the closest thing to the bands Black Metal beginnings, if my ears are not mistaken a faint distorted guitar may be present laying deep in the mix, it actually works very well. The final track and longest on the release Beyond The Belt Of Orion is a tour de force of this new sound for Ofdrykkja. Neofolk, Pagan, Atmospheric, Alternative and wonderful, if I had any criticism it would be that more songs on the album should have adopted a more lengthy structure such as this.
As someone who very much enjoys the depressing tones of Neofolk, a helping of Viking based traditional music and most importantly Fairport Convention I can say I give After The Storm a big thumbs up. I think more traditional Black Metal fans will naturally moan that the album has done away with any sense of Metal. That said, Metal as a fandom is known to adopt certain other genres, Folk being one of them and even degrees of Punk and Dungeon Synth too. This is a release that should aid in broadening your horizons. I think that this new path Ofdrykkja have forged is a glorious one and I cannot wait to hear more in the future.
(9/10 George Caley)
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