I'm sadly unimpressed with the album. I say "sadly" not in an ironic, eye-rolling way, but just that one of my favourite bands has released something that didn't really affect me. Maybe it's me, I'm not trying to say "oh Borknagar changed and now they suck." It has some good moments, but there isn't a whole lot that grabs me.
It has the generally good meat-and-potatoes Borky stuff and I really dig some of the solos, especially the bass solo in For A Thousand Years To Come. The drums are really good, I think Dave really did a good job on his first outing with the band.
The downside is, those common elements- Oystein's signature riff style, Lars' orchestrations, etc- are the high points, to me, rather than being the groundwork. I noticed each song starts with a mellow part, usually on clean or slightly distorted guitar. With Fleshflower and Worldwide it's piano and organ, but the effect is the same. In general it just felt like there wasn't much momentum in the album. It kind of meanders along, and while the heavy parts are certainly heavy, they don't really grip me. The heaviness isn't allowed to grow and expand, it just does its job then leaves.
The biggest thing was that there just didn't feel like there were any huge, climactic moments. Obviously with a band like Borknagar you shouldn't expect each album to sound like the others, but when I think about previous records, there was always that one track that gave me goosebumps. It's not something I can point at and say "this, here, is bad," it's just a feeling that was absent. Olden Domain had Dawn of the End, Quintessence had Colossus, Empiricism had Gods of My World, and so on- big, dramatic songs that really sweep you up and take you for a ride. I never felt that listening to this one.
This hurts me to say it, but I really didn't like Mr. V's clean vocals on this one. I've defended my love for him as a vocalist from my bandmates, friends, and girlfriend for years, so to say myself that I didn't like his singing here is a strange and uncomfortable feeling. It's just become very nasal. The chorus part in Reason, the line "now the canvas is all white/and my hands are unsoiled", is the best (worst?) example. There are parts where he sounds great, and I like the growled vocals just fine, but too often it strays into that nasal territory that's hard to listen to. I did think Vortex did a great job on the final track. I really like Lars as a vocalist, but I didn't like the song he sang lead on.
The last thing I wanted to mention was the organ, which I love... most of the time. I felt it was overused here. I really liked it on Havoc- when it comes tearing in partway through the song, it's very reminiscent of the solo on Resonance from Epic (which is another one of those gripping "high points" I talking about earlier). Generally it's something I'm fond of, and when it's used in the right context it can make a good part great, but in the mellower parts it tends to drag them down even further.
In general I just think it was weighted a little to heavily on the mellow, midtempo side of things. I think some of the slower songs would have gone down a little easier if there had been more heavy, hooky songs to balance them out, but while there are songs with fast, heavy parts, there aren't many songs that keep the momentum up throughout. I think Havoc comes the closest, and it's right at the front. There is a lot more emphasis on the flavouring elements like clean guitar, keyboards & orchestration, which worked really well before because they were rare and unique. When they start to become the focus, their effect is diluted.
High points of the album for me:
Havoc
For a Thousand Years to Come
My Domain
Low points:
Abrasion Tide
Fleshflower
Worldwide
Anywho. I hope these comments aren't taken as any more negative and complainy than I meant them to be. I know that after 6 years since their last electric album, I shouldn't expect Borknagar to sound the same, and trust me, I don't- that's the same span of time between Olden Domain and Empiricism, and they hardly remained static then, so why would they now? It just didn't do much for me.
edit: ugh, "review"? Comments. They are comments.
