Borknagar – Fall

Borknagar is back with the second album of their partially renewed lineup. I think the band, who started their career with a more typical black metal style and evolved over the years, have never disappointed their fans with any of their albums. Even though they did some work that I thought was weaker, they always managed to present very good ideas in general.

Scandinavian bands always manage to carry traces of the geography from which they emerged, as their members have grown up with northern mythology and Viking history/culture since birth. While some of them prefer to reflect these traces in a very harsh and merciless way and leave us in blizzards, frost and snowstorms, Borknagar take the listener on a cultural journey by talking about things that remind us of the magnificence of nature and giving a feeling of melancholy that makes us question life. For example, if you put the album’s number 2, “Nordic Anthem”, in a production about vikings, it will fit perfectly. The band also brings to mind “Wardruna” in this song.

I can say that the music is within the general Borknagar patterns. ICS Vortex, who has undertaken both clean and harsh vocals for the last two albums, gave an exquisite performance. I must say that this album is the peak of his vocal performances in Borknagar. An example is the closing song, “Northward.” The vocals of this song are very original. Of course, I don’t know how it would work live, but harsh vocal performance throughout the album is also great.

“Winter Thrice” was an excellent album. It took me a while to get used to “True North”, which came out afterwards. I also feel close things about “Fall”. I don’t think either of these two albums can reach the perfection of “Winter Thrice”. However, they so generously sprinkle many elements here and there that an ordinary band would not be able to think about, that it is very difficult for musicians of this quality to upset their listeners.

Borknagar is a band to whom these two questions can be asked when their new album is released: 1) Of course it is very good music, but was the previous album a little better? 2) How could they do a better album than the previous one?

Long story short, it’s an album on par with “True North”, maybe a little better, where ICS Vortex excels with his vocals. It will delight fans as well as those who will listen to it for the first time. For those who want to get an idea, I recommend “Moon”, which comes with Deep Purple keyboard. Hats off.

8,5/10