Koldbrann – Vertigo

Koldbrann (Gangrene) is a black metal band founded in 2001 in Drammen, Norway, under the leadership of vocalist Mannevond. I’ve heard of his name before but never had the opportunity to listen to his music until this one.

Mannevond has undertaken drum and vocal duties in various bands like Urgehal. This is also valid for the rest of the band members. Their music reminded me of bands such as Taake and Kampfar, but Kolbrann also has rock n’ roll influences that we have witnessed in many black metal bands lately. In this respect, there are episodes that remind us of Satyricon after Rebel Extravaganza. Mannevond’s vocals with plenty of distortion support bring to mind Satyr and Hoest.

They used English, Norwegian and even a little Russian in their lyrics. Punk influences are intense, reminiscent of Impaled Nazarene’s punk attitude. This is a factor that increase the entertainment dose of the album. There are very fast parts and more atmospherical heavy parts too. Overall it is definitely a heavy album. Compared to their previous albums, Vertigo has a more modern cover art and a brand new clean band logo.

The album, successful in terms of production, opens with a harsh track called Intro Vertigo and closes with an atmospheric and beautiful track called Inertia Corridors. Three of the album’s 11 tracks are instrumental passages shorter than a minute, which I don’t find very meaningful. Instead of showing them as separate parts, they could be added directly to the beginning of the parts they are connected to. Songs Totalt Sjelelig Bankerott and Stolichnaya Smert are very lively and entertaining, but some songs such as Phantom Kosmonaut and Goat Lodge, while they could have been nice, were unnecessarily prolonged and became boring. Even though it was a small amount, the keyboard was used to add depth to the music.

Ultimately, when evaluated as a whole, it is an album that is not very original – personally, I care more about the pleasure of listening than originality – but it is an enjoyable album and worth the time you spend listening to it. If you want to taste the album before buying it and decide accordingly, I can recommend Stolichnaya Smert and Inertia Corridors.

7,5/10