By Bona Pjarren
As far as we are aware, unless someone finds a long-overlooked runestone to prove to the contrary, despite their extensive explorations the Nordic ancestors shared by myself and Monk never made it as far as the archipelago of islands that make up modern day Indonesia. But, proving that mythos and music are truly global phenomena, it is from there that Numeron have chosen to walk the ‘Road To Valhalla’ on this, their second album… so, let’s indulge in our own voyage of aural exploration, shall we?
‘Light Upon The Ground’ is the first track with its tuneful ambient beginning that erupts into some full on black metal. The drums are thunderous and the pace unrelenting. But then comes the breakdown, a nice piece of floated ambience that combines with the heavier background.
‘Blood In My Vein’ combines some nice atmospherics and melodies with grinding heavy metal. The pace is frantic at times, subsiding into something more laid back. There is good use of light and shade and it has some nice hooks. ‘Believer’ has a almost indie feel to its intro but soon gets into solid slabs of black metal heaviness. It has a really nice tuneful breakdown that really clears the air.
‘Noise of Dystopia’ provides a wall of noise intro and a take no prisoners attitude. Floated notes take over but do not detract from the intensity. There are some nice melodies, counter opposed to the background maelstrom. ‘Valhalla’ has a beautiful intro to it, but this is soon replaced by a full on onslaught of metal mayhem. I did feel that some of the melody got lost in the wall of sound. This was resolved later in the song with various breakdowns.
‘Lustre’ is not quite as dark as some of the earlier songs and provides a bit of a break. It is still intense in its composition and has the trademark melody line floated above the heavier background. Closer ‘Epifora’ has a different feeling again from the rest of the album as it is more laid back in its approach. Not that it has lost any of the intensity of the rest of the work.
‘Road To Valhalla’ is a strong album that will appeal to post black metal fans. It is intense in its composition but has some solid melodic ideas mixed in to the overall onslaught. It is definitely and album worth giving a listen to.
- ‘Road To Valhalla‘ is released on Friday 28 April.
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