What's the general consensus on the first two Borknagar discs on this forum?

[batmura]

Hey guys,

Long-time Borknagar fan, but I'm not a regular poster on this forum. I lurk around quite a bit, though.

Anyway, I've been on a Borknagar kick as of late, particularly the first two albums with Garm on vocals. They are probably my most played Borknagar discs, especially The Olden Domain. It's no secret that I worship Ulver's Bergtatt and I got into Borknagar because of Garm, but over the years I've followed the band's progress closely and always found something in them that I could latch onto. It's just that, after staying away from the first two CDs, I've come to realize that they're amongst the band's greatest efforts.

So what does everyone here think of these albums in general? How do they rank in the ordinary Borknagar fan's list? Are they considered records in which the band was still far from establishing an identity or stuff where they were at their creative/artistic peak which they could never quite recapture?

Any thoughts?

 

[Undefined]

I'd have to say they are my least favourite. They have a few gems for me, such as A Tale of Pagan Tongue, The Eye of Oden and The Dawn of the End... but they are really a different sound altogether in my mind from what the band became, and the newer stuff to me is far more superior. So I would have to say this was the stage they were establishing their identity and had yet to hit their artistic peak. I mean from the first CD they started as an all-star black metal kind of line up and with each new realease they became a better band that offered a new and fresh take on the genre, creating some of the most amazing music I have ever heard. The lyrics and concepts as well only got better with time, becoming more intricate and poetic. Those are my thoughts.

 

[Kerros]

The s/t is amazing black metal that falls somewhere between Bergtatt and Nattens Madrigal stylistically, so I absolutely love it. I don't give TOD as much spin time as I do TAC though. First 4 albums are still favorite though no contest.

 

[Undefined]

For me:

TAC>Empiricism>Universal>Epic>Origin>Quintessence>TOD>s/t

Hard to put Quintessence so low on my list because of Colossus but I dunno, I just love the majority of the other albums more.

 

[Helge-Uwe]

To me the Borknagar s/t album appears to be one of the most stellar efforts in bandhistory with classics like Vintervredets Sjelesagn or Dauden and many adorable instrumentals. I also like The Olden Domain a lot, standout here for me is The Winterway. TOD is the only album i don't own a regular copy of though and probably the one I gave the fewest spins.

"s/t is amazing black metal that falls somewhere between Bergtatt and Nattens Madrigal stylistically" - Very nice comparison that fits it pretty well.

 

[Azzor1911]

Compared to the opening post, I guess my opinion is quite startling; TOD is my favorite Borknagar album (followed very closely by TAC), but the S/T debut is my least favorite. I just don't like raw black metal. at all.
The clean vocals and some acoustic parts on it, for example on Dauden, are fantastic though (especially live!!).

To answer the question, I think Borknagar's creative/artistic peak was during the entire TOD/TAC/Q-era.

 

[Allfader]

The S/T is simply one of the best black metal albums released on 90's. I'm agree with the Bergtatt/Nattens comparison, specially cause the album in fact came after Bergtatt and before NM. TOD is one of the best 'viking' albums ever. Both albums sounds very archaic, with a very old atmosphere.

It's really hard to compare them with the rest since Vortex gave a more modern feel to the music, besides the production values were really different. Since Empiricism, Borknagar started to be more progressive than black, so even if there are tons of riffs, blastbeats and grim vocals, the latest albums sounds more like 'extreme progressive' than black metal, like Ihsahn doesn't sound black metal anymore. My Fav album is Empiricism, but TOD comes 2nd!. I think Borknagar made his name on the 'scene' with TOD. After that, the band changed so much that many people were confused and stopped listening Bork but many new people liked the new approach.

 

[ShadarLogoth]

Olden Domain is my favorite Borknagar album, honestly never got into the s/t to much though. I enjoy all the bands output, and its defintately hard to compare because of diversity of sound of most of the releases other than empiricism/epic which sound very similar to me, with empiricism being the better of the 2.

 

[AnTz0r]

Olden Domain is my favorite Borknagar album, honestly never got into the s/t to much though. I enjoy all the bands output, and its defintately hard to compare because of diversity of sound of most of the releases other than empiricism/epic which sound very similar to me, with empiricism being the better of the 2.

same here!

 

[Astral and Arcane]

I like the first two albums, but I am more attracted to the progressive nature of the later albums. I feel like Q is where bork found the right musical space and everything since has been gold.

 

[Defiance]

The first two albums, even if good, are of inferior quality when compared to the other ones. My favourite ones are the ones with Andreas, but I do believe that Quintessence is a masterpiece.

 

[Helge-Uwe]

can't understand how one can enjoy listening to bands like emperor, ulver or taake and not liking the first couple of borknagar songs that much at the same time.

 

[Kerros]

can't understand how one can enjoy listening to bands like emperor, ulver or taake and not liking the first couple of borknagar songs that much at the same time.

Is it bad if I don't like Emperor? I dunno it seems like I should like them but they do nothing for me at all.

 

[Helge-Uwe]

to me, their DVD performance in wacken is yet uncontested. if not to say mindblowing. try this one if you want to get into emperor's earlier works.

 

[Kerros]

to me, their DVD performance in wacken is yet uncontested. if not to say mindblowing. try this one if you want to get into emperor's earlier works.

I mean I've got ITNE (not remastered), I've heard some of their other stuff too. I just flat out don't enjoy it.

 

[Defiance]

can't understand how one can enjoy listening to bands like emperor, ulver or taake and not liking the first couple of borknagar songs that much at the same time.

If you're referring to me; I do like the first albums, but I just think that the newer the better.

I'm not really into Emperor, but I do love Taake (despite the use of the inverted swastika).

 

[Helge-Uwe]

I mean I've got ITNE (not remastered), I've heard some of their other stuff too. I just flat out don't enjoy it.

yay, gotcha. but I meant those old emperor songs come across catchier/smoother on dvd ... e.g. especially production-wise.

 

[dia_hain]

Well, to the above question, I definitely like both albums and yeah, the Garm vocals are an obvious attraction as his voice matches the sound, indeed. ((I really like his early stuff with Ulver - Rawr, listening to Kveldssanger as I write this and never noticed you can hear breathing as the guitarist plays on Hiertets Vee.))
I think each Borknagar record marks a different era and different feeling. One is not like the other. It's really incomparable.

 

[Kara-Shehr]

I mean I've got ITNE (not remastered), I've heard some of their other stuff too. I just flat out don't enjoy it.

Thats ok taste is taste.

 

[Naglfar]

For me:

TAC>Empiricism>Universal>Epic>Origin>Quintessence>TOD>s/t

Hard to put Quintessence so low on my list because of Colossus but I dunno, I just love the majority of the other albums more.

Yeah. That's Borky's weakest album. Except... Colossus is possibly one of the greatest rock songs ever, let alone Borky songs. Those two spots you gave it came entirely from Colossus, I'm sure. =)