_ _______ _ ...:... _ _______ _ ___ / .:::::::::::. \ ___ | / .. (:::::::::::::) .. \ | | . .:::::.`:::::::::::'.:::::. . | | .::.. `:::.::':::`::.:::' ..::. | _ _______ | .::' ::::':::::`:::: `::. | _______ _ \\ | | :: `' ::':`:: `' :: | | // \ | | `:. .::' . `::. .:' | | / . | | .::::::..::::' ... `::::..::::::. | | . | | `:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::' | | .... | | `:' `::::: :: :: :::::' `:' | | .... | ' | : `. ': :: :: :: :: :` .' : | ` | |.....: . .......: :: :: :: :: : ...... . : ....| . ...................: : :: :: :: :: : : ................. . _____________:_____________ _____________:_____________ _ ___\` __ /_\` _______/_\` __ _/_\` /___ _ // __ / (/ ___/ (/ _ (/ /_______/\ _ _ /_________ ___________ ______/\ _ ______________/\__/_ _ \\\\\_________\__/\_________\__/\_____/\_____/\____________/ /// - -\-\-----------\__/----------\__/-------\_____/---------------/-/- - - -------------------: : :. ..:: :: . :------------------ - : : :......: :: :` ': :: : .....: : : ___ _ | | : ` ' : | | _ ___ _\---------- : | -------- : B E R C : -------- | : ----------/_ /_\ . : . ..:.. ..:.. . : . /_\ /// . . : : . . \\\ /: :\ /:: Artist :: Graveland ::\ :: Album :: Hour of Ragnarok :: :: Year :: 2021 :: :: __ _ _ __ :: -:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:- :: \ / :: :: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CD . :: :: Label :: The Oath R.date :: 2025-12-20 :: _::__ Cat.nr. :: OATH057 S.date :: 2021-08-30 __::_ ::// \\:: ::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\:: :: :: /: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\ ..: Bitrate :: avg. 279kbps :.. . Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo . . Size :: 105.73MB . . . __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: 1. The Wolf of Twilight 6:14 :: :: 2. Hour of Ragnarok 5:54 :: :: 3. Conspiracy of the Wizards 5:52 :: :: 4. Children of Hyperborea 7:06 :: :: 5. Following the Azure Light 6:07 :: :: 6. The Three Gifts of the Gods 5:32 :: :: 7. Enlighted by the Wisdom of Runes 7:39 :: :: 8. River of Tears 5:55 :: :: :: :: :: :: ------- :: .. >> 50:19 .. __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: :: :: Ah, we all already forgot when Graveland made us happy with :: :: something really new: for the previous eight years, Rob Darken :: :: was too busy offering us his old works in new packing, i. e. :: :: with modern arrangement. Well, modernization is also a big :: :: deal, maybe. But "Hour of Ragnarok" is finally an actual new :: :: album. :: :: :: :: So what do we have here? The label press release assures us :: :: that this is "music from the beginning of the history of :: :: Graveland," but in this case we can hardly speak of "returning :: :: to the roots." Well, if you manage to make out the guitar :: :: parts, then, of course, there is no doubt, this is the same :: :: good old Graveland with wintry minimalist riffs, warlike and :: :: atmospheric at the same time. The problem is that if there is :: :: any guitar aggressiveness on this album, then it is safely :: :: buried under a thick layer of keyboards. Graveland's previous :: :: "true" album, "Thunderbolts of the Gods" (2013), is pure guitar :: :: work compared to "Hour of Ragnarok". :: :: :: :: Yes, keyboards are the cornerstone of the new Graveland album. :: :: They sound almost constantly. From the very first song, "The :: :: Wolf of Twilight", solemn and epic melodies, often dominated by :: :: folklore motifs, descend upon us. Sometimes even a pagan dance :: :: reigns in the songs (especially check out "Enlighted by the :: :: Wisdom of Runes"). We scarcely know what to say, it seems that :: :: Darken was so eager to transfer the pagan atmosphere for :: :: reenactors, who maybe seem to be more real pagans than his :: :: fellow musicians / black metallers, that he almost forgot about :: :: the metal component of his music. Of course, Graveland did not :: :: turn into Lord Wind, another Darken's project, but we can say :: :: that the "great merger" has begun. It is worth mentioning. that :: :: once upon a time Graveland and Lord Wind could not even be :: :: compared to one another. :: :: :: :: Sometimes the guitar is given the chance to make itself known :: :: without the control of the keyboards, like in the beginning of :: :: "Hour of Ragnarok", this is the first appearance. However, that :: :: rarely happens, as if the keyboards are afraid to leave the :: :: guitar alone. Therefore, most often the riffs cannot be made :: :: out very clearly, you can only hear the buzzing of distortion :: :: from the guitars, while a distortion sound is not sharp or :: :: razor-sharp at all. Most likely, the synthesizer part :: :: duplicates the guitar part, so the guitar only pulses somewhere :: :: in the background. And, of course, there is no solos or licks, :: :: right, this is Graveland. Damn interesting, what would "Hour of :: :: Ragnarok" sound like without keyboards? Isn't the absence of :: :: sensible guitar riffs hidden behind the keyboards? the absence :: :: of really new guitar riffs? Let's hope it's not true at all, in :: :: the meantime, it remains to deal with what we hear. :: :: :: :: It must be reluctantly acknowledged that the drums also perform :: :: an auxiliary function, although they are still audible on not :: :: so rare blast beat sections û submerged of course, as is common :: :: in old-school raw black metal. Everything is strictly according :: :: to the canons. By the way, you can tell from the drum sound :: :: that the production on the album is fairly clean (pay attention :: :: to the beginning of "Conspiracy of the Wizards" with intense :: :: fills), but the whole sound was processed in such a way as if :: :: the recording was made in the 90s. That's right, the muffled :: :: guitar and squashed bass (although sometimes the bass humming :: :: seems to be more noticeable than the guitar distortion) were :: :: handled deliberately poorly. :: :: :: :: Because of these "peculiarities" of the album's sound, there is :: :: often a feeling that a metal foundation has been shoved under :: :: the building of the music of, for example, Mortiis û and this :: :: is how "Hour of Ragnarok" was created. Summoning, of course, is :: :: also remembered often (the most striking example is the :: :: beginning of "Children of Hyperborea"): in some measure this :: :: album is a kind of amalgam of classic Summoning and Graveland :: :: itself, which was mixed in modern conditions with retro :: :: imitation. And when guitars manage to force their way through :: :: the keyboard thickness, you can draw a parallel with the Viking :: :: Bathory material, but there are not many such moments (check :: :: "The Wolf of Twilight" and "Enlighted by the Wisdom of Runes"). :: :: There are far more sections in which the music of Graveland :: :: resembles the soundtrack of "Game of Thrones", most of all it :: :: is noticeable in the same song "Children of Hyperborea". :: :: :: :: The vocals are the same old, Rob Darken's signature harsh and :: :: grating vocals. There are a lot of lyrics on the album, the :: :: voice attack continues continuously, ah, as if compensating for :: :: the lack of metal. In truth, it is the vocals most often that :: :: make the listener believe that they are listening to Graveland. :: :: But when Darken begins to sing in a clear voice ("Children of :: :: Hyperborea", "Following the Azure Light"), then you are :: :: inevitably lost. Nevertheless, these strange vocal pats sound :: :: very impressive and epic. :: :: :: :: By a strange coincidence, the most interesting song is the last :: :: one, "River of Tears". Although it starts out as some pompous :: :: ambient piece, soon metal takes over the lead, and we hear a :: :: groovy rousing riff. In fact, it is the most guitar section on :: :: the entire album. Alas, as before, the guitar eventually loses :: :: its ground. But this is followed by an interesting rhythmic :: :: breakdown û militant, in some way completely uncharacteristic :: :: for the entire album. However, in any case, this is folk metal, :: :: this is pagan metal, and there is no black metal as such. :: :: :: :: Summary. Those who expected a true return to their roots will :: :: no doubt be disappointed with "Hour of Ragnarok". This cannot :: :: be called a return: it is like watching the previously :: :: mentioned "Game of Thrones" instead of a classic :: :: black-and-white film. Well, nobody says "Game of Thrones" is :: :: bad, new time means new laws. But this is not a classic. For :: :: now, anyway. So "Hour of Ragnarok" is rather a (yet another) :: :: incarnation, not a return. It will not be possible to find any :: :: musical progress here either, right, this is Graveland. :: :: Nevertheless, Darken worked well, the album is listened to, as :: :: they say, in one breath. These are indeed pagan hymns. The :: :: question is solely about the keyboards, whether this is good or :: :: bad for you. :: :: :: :: . _ _ . :: \: :. \\ ___________ . ___________ // .: :/ __\____ :: ____ ___\ _ / BERC : 2025 \ _ /___ ____ :: ____/__ \\\f3! :: \\\ __ _/_________i_________\ /___/ /// :: cRO/// \ :: :\-\___________\_ ___ / _ _/___________/-/: :: / :: | . . _ _ _/ __/ . \_ _ _ . . | :: : :::::::: | | \\\\\/ _______\____|\ \///// | | :::::::: : :: | | -\-\/____/-------------\____\/-/- | | :: :: | | \ :|: / | | :: : : | . ` ::: ' . | : : . . | : ::: : | . . | :::....:::....::: | : ::::::::::::::::: : . :::''``:::''``::: . : ::: : . ::: . .:. :