The hour of ultimate extreme sounding annihilation is upon us! The wait was well worth it, because Graveland’s new album, “Hour of Ragnarok,” is a cataclysmic release that will sweep listeners into an apocalyptic battle field of triumphant sounding black metal.
Ever since the band announced the release of this new album I have been patiently awaiting its release. Without a doubt, this is an album that I was extremely looking forward to hearing and for good reason. Graveland has been firing on all cylinders ever since the release of, “1050 Years of Pagan Cult,” where the band decided to rework some of their classic material and give the songs even more profound and epic edge. The band's early years of raw black metal have evolved into a more pagan metal sound, but the end result combines such brilliant sounding compositions that feel almost cinematic at times. Founding member and the true driving force behind Graveland, Rob Darken, has done a tremendous job over the years and creativity of this band never ceases to amaze me as a fan.
“Hour of Ragnarok,” is the culmination of years and years of hard work and constant drive to make solid recordings. As much as I deeply enjoy, “Thousand Swords,” which I consider to be one the greatest black metal releases of all time, I have really enjoyed the band’s evolution and creative direction by exploring pagan mythology in a way that vividly stands out. The attention to detail and strong emphasis on production quality is what separates them from a lot of other bands and I also respect them for not wanting to putting out the same sounding release year after year.
The album’s opening track, “The Wolf of Twilight,” is quite possibly one of the most profound statements in terms of an opening track. Right away you are thrust into this destructive sounding world with a thunderous rush of bombastic drum arrangements and skull splitting riffs. Rob’s distinct vocal style adds to the barbaric sounding onslaught and elevates the song’s cinematic like vibe. Holding nothing back the band is able to brilliantly transition into the next song, “Hour of Ragnarok,” conjuring up a devastating composition. The riffs are very percussive and inject a tremendous amount of unapologetic force into the overall arrangement.
“Conspiracy of the Wizards,” is another monumental sounding piece of music and one where I can hear those slight touches that made “Thousand Swords” such a classic. This band gets what it takes to compose music that conveys a raw, yet larger than life atmosphere. During the track, "Children of Hyperborea," the band incorporates some epic sounding background vocals to contrast with the fearsome sounding instrumental arrangements. The themes on songs like, “Following the Azure Light,” and “The Three Gifts of the Gods,” are executed with a plethora of attention to detail, so in the end the music flows with a truly unique and confident synergy.
“Hour of Ragnarok,” is an album highly worth checking out and arguably one the most impressive Graveland releases to come out in recent years. Now, I’m not saying that some of the albums prior to this release are completely forgettable, however, I firmly believe that this release is on an even greater level. Graveland’s decision to rework their classic material on, “1050 Years of Pagan Cult,” was a brilliant idea, and pushed the band in this new direction musically, which has allowed the band to compose some utterly powerful recordings.
Sadly, Graveland gets a lot of criticism from the metal community for past statements and continuous attacks from social justice warriors that claim the band promotes a certain extremist ideology. If you actuality listen to the music there is no fascist ideology being incorporated into the albums, especially on this new release. Sometimes I wonder if it is jealously that fuels the Graveland hate, because no matter how many times Rob Darken denounces any pro-Nazi or fascist ideology associated with the band, people continue to throw around these cheap claims with very little evidence.
When it comes down to it, let the music do the talking, which Graveland has done extremely well given the quality of this new release. This band does not need support from supposed CVLT metal publications that kiss the asses of hipster black metal fans, because in the end the die hard and loyal fans of Graveland will continue to support the band and appreciate the artistic creativity that comes from this band.
Check out the entire album below via the band's Youtube Channel:
Great review Robby.
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