Borknagar - Borknagar

In 1996, a masterpiece of black metal was released. It was essentially the demo tape of what would become one of the greatest black metal bands around. This record is that masterpiece, a perfect example of organic nature black metal. The production is not perfect, but it is really like Darkthrone's productions--it serves a purpose. The production creates a mood and an atmosphere around the record that later (although still quite good) Borknagar CD's don't quite have.

The lyrics are all in Norwegian. I have yet to translate them, but I understand that they're all about nature and such things. I like that about early Borknagar. Everything seems to be about nature and organic products, while as they went on they became a little more almost mathematical, in the philosophic sense of mathmatics. The whole CD design also is very black metal, featuring pictures of the Norwegian landscape (with a Norwegian farm house on the cover), which are quite beautiful and expressive of the content of the record.

Garm's vocals are really good. He has a very good sounding black metal scrape, and also a really nice clean voice. He sounds very epic and creepy, like a Viking calling across the vales and fjords, or something. The sound of the band is a little dense at first, but as you listen very catchy melodies and guitar riffs start to stand out. One person said that later records like The Archaic Course were less melodic and catchy than these early records, and despite the dense production, I'd have to agree. There's more things that will really stick out from the chaos on this record than on later CDs. There's also quite a few instrumental songs, all of them good, and most definitely not filler, and a few are just as good as the full songs. This is a record that needs to be listened to from beginning to end for sure.

This is probably the most atmospheric record I have ever heard. It really makes me feel like I'm out in the wintery woods smelling the crisp winter air in the mountains. This record makes me want to go out and get in nature, which is exactly what I think Borknagar were trying to do. This is a classic, and is essential for anyone who likes black metal.