| Borknagar Century Black , 1996 Lord Pale : Mid paced to fast Viking themed blackmetal from Norway . Featuring an all-star line up including Garm ( Ulver/Arcturus ) on vocals , Ivar Bjornson ( Enslaved ) on keyboards and Grim ( ex-Immortal/Gorgoroth ) on drums . All the lyrics on this album are in Norwegian so I am unsure to exactly what they are about . Featuring 10 tracks , of which 5 are musicals , this album can tend to get a little long winded . The music is a little dated for its time and the production is not the best , there are a few acoustic breaks and some deep clear vocals and chants to lend an atmosphere to the music but they r too few and far between to keep it interesting for long . The musicals vary from piano pieces to acoustic guitar melodies to keyboard accompanied chants . This is more extreme than the newer Borknagar releases so if you are thinking of buying this because you like The Olden Domain , I suggest you listen to it first . Favourite Tracks - Dauden ; Fandens Allheim Mark - 5/10 Borknagar “The Olden Domain” Century Media , 1997 Lord Pale : Mid paced folkish/arty blackmetal with singing that varies between a blackmetal snat and clear deep majestic vocals . Featuring Garm from Arcturus/Ulver on vocals and including members of Enslaved , there is plenty of talent on this album and it shows . The Olden Domain has plenty of acoustic breaks accompanied by soaring clear vocals and keyboards that lend Borknagar a unique sound for their time . The songs are well written and well preformed making this ( in my opinion ) one of the best blackmetal albums of all time . The lyrics are a little abstract but generally focus on Viking themes , and this is reflected a little by the sometimes sing along nature of the songs . This album also feature tow musicals , one a synth piece written by Ivar Bjornson in memory of his father , and the other “Ascension Of Our Fathers” seems to be a few left over riffs the band wanted to use . This is a must have album for anyone into blackmetal or viking metal , or a good starting point for anyone just getting into blackmetal . Favourite Tracks - A Tale In Pagan Tongue ; The Dawn Of The End ; To Mount And Rove Mark - 10/10 Borknagar “The Archaic Course” Century Media , 1998 Lord Pale : Gone is Garm from the line up and in steps new vocalist ICS Vortex ( Bassist and clear vocalist on recent Dimmu Borgir releases ) . The music is still the same high calibre vikingish blackmetal with keyboards and acoustic breaks . ICS’s Blackmetal snat is nearly identical to Garms however he doesn’t have the same deep powerful clear vocals . All though clearly a good singer his voice is far more high pitched than Garms and sounds a little uncomfortable at times . The music and song writing is still of a high standard however , and this is a very good album . The lyrics are even more abstract this time around , and the songs are a little harder to sing along to as a result . ICS can sometimes sound a little whinny as on “Witchinghour” , “The Black Token” and “Nocturnal Vision” . But he is not Garm and he does do a good job of replacing him , it just takes a while to get used to his voice , perhaps because there is a lot more clear vocals on this album than there was on The Olden Domain . If you liked their last album there’s not reason you won’t like this one . Favourite Tracks - Oceans Rise ; Universal ; Winter Millennium Mark - 8/10 Borknagar “Quintessence” Century Media , 2000 Lord Pale : This album is a lot more up tempo than Borknagar’s last two releases . It also features a lot more snatting and less clear vocals than The Archaic Course . The art work and general feel and sound of the album has gone a little futuristic . The lyrics are even more abstract than the last album , and ICS Vortex’s snatting vocals are now more his own rather than a copy of his predecessors , now sounding more like Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir . ICS sounds a lot more comfortable singing on this album and he even contributed more to the writing of the music . The whole album comes together well as a whole and fans of The Archaic Course should find themselves getting into it . The step away from Viking style themes is a little disappointing , but this disc is good in its own right and suits the new theme well by incorporating a lot more keyboards . The album is considerably faster than both The Olden Domain and The Archaic Course , but it is still undeniably Borknagar , albeit in a more blackmetal vein . ICS vortex departed to pursue Dimmu Borgir after the release of this album . Favourite Tracks - Colossus ; The Presence is Ominous ; Revolt Mark - 8.5/10 Borknagar - Empiricism Century Media, 2001 Lord Pale: Borknagar return with their fifth album and new singer Vintersorg (Vintersorg, Otyg) and initially I was a little concerned about Vintersorg's ability to fit into Borknagor given his other work. However Vintersorg fills ICS Vortex's shoes very admirably and adds his own vocal distinctiveness to Borknagar's slowly evolving sound. Empiricism is a cross between "Quintessence" and "The Archoic Course" but indefinitely slicker than either album. The song writing and performance is faultless and the album is so smooth it borders on being overproduced. However, this is still 100% Borknagar and a strong album as well. Vintersorg's clean vocals play a huge role in forging the melody of the songs and contrast perfectly against his black metal rasp. The keyboard sound from the last two albums has been kept but pushed a little further to the back of the mix which suits this material a lot better. Like most Borknagar albums , Empiricism is devoid of fillers but the good tracks certainly stand above the rest.The lyrics are still cryptic but pushing further into "Universal" themes. A stunning return by one of my favorite bands. Favorite tracks: Inherit the Earth, The Stellar Dome, The Genuine Pulse Mark: 8.5/10 Borknagar 'Epic' Century Media, 2004 Lord Pale: Borknagar's sixth studio opus and second with vocalist Vintersorg, sees both a forward progression and a reversion to their early familiar sound. Whilst the band has explored a few new ideas and melodies on Epic, most of the musical interaction between guitar and synth reminds me of both The Olden Domain and Quintessence ( my two favourite Borknagar albums ). Unfortunately the material and the vocals aren't as compelling as either of those releases and instead of being easier to get into, the similarities to their older works makes Epic rather tedious at first. Vintersorg's vocals have improved since Empiricism, switching from clean and soaring to blackmetal rasps and growls effortlessly but they lack the emotion and raw quality that made the songs on that album appealing in the first place. With patience Epic's melodies eventually worked their way into my memory and and the album is obviously a grower but for the most part it is Borknagar's least inspired and most bland album since their self titled 1996 debut. The next Borknagar album will be a telling release for the bands future, hopefully with another new vocalist to add some much needed variation and inspiration. Favourite Tracks – Future Reminiscence ; The Inner Ocean Hypothesis ; Relate Mark – 7.5/10 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Offical Website |
 |
 |
 |