Borknagar - Universal

[eppst1]

I was wondering if anyone picked this up yet? I've been a huge fan of this band for a long time and was really looking forward to their new one - and I am not disappointed in the slightest! This is easily one of my favorites so far this year. I particularly like the track that Vortex sings on - great to have him back for at least one song.
Thoughts?

 

[Guardian of the Blind]

The only CD I bought of theirs was The Archaic Course when I was in High School. I liked that CD but never bought any others. Do they still sound the same as that one? Any recommendations on their other CDs?

 

[Diabolik]

I only got to listen to it once so far. Really good. Borknagar disc are always good since they slowly grow on you. Thier disc are always nice and layered.

 

[Pellaz]

Totally agreed....haven't heard the whole thing yet, but I like what I've heard so far...basically the first two tracks. Which one has Simen/Vortex singing on it?

As for other Borknagar CDs, I'm partial to Olden Domain and Empiricism the most.

 

[johan68]

Together with Triptykon my top purchase of 2010. Absolutely love this album.

 

[eppst1]

Which one has Simen/Vortex singing on it?

My Domain.

 

[skyrefuge]

On the plus side, it's a Borknagar album, and no one else really sounds like Borknagar. On the minus side, it's a Borknagar album, so it sounds just like a Borknagar album, with nothing to make it interesting if you own any of their last 3 albums.

Well, except for the obvious Solefald song that's thrown right in the middle of all the Borknagar songs!

I particularly like the track that Vortex sings on - great to have him back for at least one song.

Yeah, it made me realize that they need to do a song where Fiery G. Maelstrom, I.C.S. Vortex, and Vintersorg all sing together. 3-part harmonies, both clean and growling...blow that mutha out and call it a day!

Neil

 

[eppst1]

...so it sounds just like a Borknagar album, with nothing to make it interesting if you own any of their last 3 albums.

Couldn't disagree more - but just my opinion.

 

[skyrefuge]

Couldn't disagree more - but just my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, if someone doesn't own any Borknagar, then by all means, they should, and this would be a good place to start.

But as someone who owns 4 Borknagar albums ('The Olden Domain' through 'Empiricism'), 'Universal' just didn't seem like it would fill any holes in my collection. All it would do is dilute my listening time: when I felt a "modern, clean, Borknagar mood" coming on, I'd either pull out 'Empiricism' or 'Universal', and the other one would gather dust. If I add up all my spins of Borknagar albums over the last 5 years, it only comes to 25 listens, so it's not like I've worn 'em out and need something new.

But, I only listened to 'Universal' once, and not in direct comparison to 'Empiricism'. So maybe the differences are greater than I noticed? Are there songs on 'Universal' that would have seemed out-of-place had they appeared on 'Empiricism' or 'Epic'?

Neil

 

[eppst1]

Don't get me wrong, if someone doesn't own any Borknagar, then by all means, they should, and this would be a good place to start.

But as someone who owns 4 Borknagar albums ('The Olden Domain' through 'Empiricism'), 'Universal' just didn't seem like it would fill any holes in my collection. All it would do is dilute my listening time: when I felt a "modern, clean, Borknagar mood" coming on, I'd either pull out 'Empiricism' or 'Universal', and the other one would gather dust. If I add up all my spins of Borknagar albums over the last 5 years, it only comes to 25 listens, so it's not like I've worn 'em out and need something new.

But, I only listened to 'Universal' once, and not in direct comparison to 'Empiricism'. So maybe the differences are greater than I noticed? Are there songs on 'Universal' that would have seemed out-of-place had they appeared on 'Empiricism' or 'Epic'?

Neil

Seemed out of place on earlier CD's? No, but can't you say that about 98.9% of every other band out there? I don't think anything on any Borknagar recording would appear out of place on any other Borknagar release. But I don't think that means they all sound the same either. To say Universal sounds like Empiricism, I'm gonna agree - it's Borknagar. What else is it going to sound like? But to only listen to it once I don't believe you are giving it a fair shake. Like Bob said, their music is very layered (and at least for me) takes quite a few listens to get the whole picture.

 

[skyrefuge]

Seemed out of place on earlier CD's? No, but can't you say that about 98.9% of every other band out there?

Oh, yeah, certainly, but I'm also a weirdo and think that for 98.9% of bands, you don't really need more than one or two albums from them. If there was a shortage of bands out there for me to listen to, then sure, picking up the last two Borknagar albums would be a no-brainer, but there's no such shortage. What I have a shortage of is listening time, so if I'm going to spend my time delving into an album, I want it to be something fresh and new to me, not something I already have a version of.

I don't think anything on any Borknagar recording would appear out of place on any other Borknagar release. But I don't think that means they all sound the same either.

Well, actually anything from the s/t would be totally out of place anywhere else, since it's nearly a straight black-metal record. Then, across their next four albums, they had three different singers, so it's hard to interchange those songs. 'The Olden Domain' feels less "modern" and "prog" than the rest of 'em; 'The Archaic Course' and 'Empiricism' are actually pretty interchangeable if you ignore the vocals, but 'Quintessence' mixed things up between them with its wall-of-sound production and crazy layered vocals.

So while the roots of the Borknagar-sound has been pretty constant since 'The Olden Domain', I still feel like their progression has slowed quite a bit over the last few albums. Which really is pretty normal for bands at this point in their career, but since Borknagar is pretty unique to begin with, I guess I was holding open the chance that 'Universal' could have some unexpected wow-factor (ironically, the Solefald-song *does* stick out like a sore thumb, but I already have enough Solefald too). I dunno, I'm thinking they should have woven the acoustic album together with a metal album instead of separating the two.

Neil

 

[Justin G]

I get where Neil is coming from. Universal is a very good album, but it sounds almost identical to Epic. I expected them to progress a bit more, especially after what they accomplished with Origin. Again, I really like the new one, but I expected something...more.

 

[SharkBlack]

NEW BORKNAGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I Must Have!!!