By John Bedard
‘The Wanderer Of The Cold North’ opens with a great instrumental piece that really sets the tone well. You can easily picture this cold, and harsh north terrain and the mood set by such an environment. This is followed up by a track that falls right into what we would expect from typical black metal and to that end, it is a pretty good one. However, there are some strange choices that I’m not sure how they will be taken by everyone. For example, I get the feeling that there is an overall story to the album but I just can’t tell what it is other than the previously mentioned cold tundra that you feel from track one and that is given away by the title of the album. Other than that, though, I am not totally sure where they wanted me to go. Also, if I am right and there was an intended story progression from track to track, I do find it strange how harshly many of the tracks end. It is like they just stopped. This kills the flow from track to track and can at times make things feel disconnected.
Musically, there is a lot of good and a little bad. Let’s start with the good though because I really don’t want it to sound as if I don’t like the album. The music hold that lost cold tone well really maintaining the theme that was set from the beginning. It is aggressive and ominous, and you can tell that a lot of passion was poured into it. Very enjoyable but also at times a little repetitive. Because of this, it can fade into the background instead of something that demands your attention. Some people are fine with a little repetition but for me, it can make it hard to make the song more than background music. It was unfortunate too because some of the progressions are really good but then they get used too many times and lose that spark that made them stand out.
The vocals, on the other hand, are brilliant. I have nothing negative to say here. The distortion in the vocals is absolutely dead-on. The delivery is passionate and interestingly manages to never feel repetitive even when the music underneath does. It really manages to take the whole album up a few steps from something I would pass by to something that you should at least give a try.
I know this review sounds pretty negative at times, but I honestly did like the album. No, it was not anything stand out special but with the great vocals and the decent music setting the intended tone, it is one worth listening to. I don’t think it will be at the front of your collection, but I do think that it is a great one to add to a playlist and I don’t think you will be disappointed with it.
‘The Wanderer Of The Cold North’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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