Naglfar- Harvest
Posted by Mastema on April 23rd, 2007
Swedish black metal bands seem to be quite inspired these days: Watain, Marduk (late April) and now Naglfar are releasing a new record.
Compared to Norway, bands hailing from Sweden often display either brutal black metal (Marduk, Dark Funeral) or either melodic black metal (Dissection, Watain). Naglfar belongs to the latter category.
Let us be clear though: this is no pop band in any way! The essence of black metal is here: raspy vocals, dark atmosphere and fast rhythmics. Again it has to be said the production is very powerful, the whole thing sounds very good. Naglfar are overall doing a great job but there’s one thing missing here (and that’s a classic trap black metal bands are falling in): personality.
Naglfar doesn’t offer something original enough, it doesn’t really stand out. This flaw is particularly apparent when compared to Watain’s recent release Sworn to the Dark (review on our site). Watain evolves in the same sphere, but they came with something much more personal, without losing the basic black metal elements. Only a few Naglfar songs on this Harvest record created the same impression to me. The rest just sounds too perfect and clean for it to be a good black metal album.
Now that doesn’t mean this album is bad at all, it can attract a broader audience than pure old school black metal, that’s for sure! It would recommend it to listeners who aren’t used to listen to black metal, or to those repugnant to the more extreme stuff. I wouldn’t say Naglfar is “mainstream” of course, but definitely more “accessible”. You’ll have to judge if that’s a good thing or not, but I can’t get very passionate about this and I encourage black metal fans to rather listen to Watain’s album…
Released : 06/03/2007
Style : Melodic Black Metal
Country : Sweden
Label : Century Media
Website : www.naglfar.net
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