Style: Dark Folk, Atmospheric Black Metal (Mixed vocals, mostly clean)
Recommended for fans of: Empyrium, Summoning, Agalloch
Country: Germany
Release date: 27 September 2024
Have you ever come across something and felt like it’s bait? Like someone smarter than you set up a trap that’s just a bit suspicious in how perfect it is for you but it’s also way too enticing to turn up? Well, the Dave trap has been laid down, and its name is Helja Kor, the debut of Germany’s Liljevars Brann: from the creature that stalks the sepia-drenched forest on the album cover to the promise of hypnotic dark folk and black metal, I’m about two feet away from grabbing the proverbial carrot under the box that is this album. Will I be rewarded justly by my insatiable desire for the carrot, or will I be trapped under the box like the silly gullible mammal I am?
Well, the trap seems convincing enough at first glance. Liljevars Brann compose a mix of dark folk and atmospheric black metal, establishing subdued ideas that meditate on themselves through extended pieces. Don’t let my description fool you, though—Helja Kor offers very little in terms of peace, as in its very first moment, a pained scream reverberates through a forest, quickly establishing the misery that seeps into every facet of the album. Save for maybe the Uaral album where the guy literally cries over folk instrumentation, this is likely one of the saddest folk/black albums I’ve ever heard, conjuring imagery of a forest that slowly drains the energy of all who pass underneath its canopies. Even the vocal performances sound rotted: this is not a commentary on technique or polish, but the vocals truly sound like the aches and creaks of a decaying forest floor.
Compounding the oppressive mood is the extensive repetition baked into these tracks—Helja Kor stays steadfast to its ideas, for better or for worse, as most tracks reach upward of ten minutes with little variation. The opening title track, for example, establishes an intertwining acoustic and electric guitar motif, iterating on themselves and staying with the listener for the entirety of its eleven-minute duration while drums plod along in the background. This atmosphere remains throughout the entirety of Helja Kor, save for the singular blast beat that makes itself known near the end of “Brannstjerningen,” which sounds enervated to the point of exhaustion, lurching forward for only a couple of seconds before capitulating to weighty folk instrumentation. The execution is remarkable here, but it’s a formula that can’t quite hold across its entirety, as the extended contemplations become disorienting and difficult to listen to at times due to their unrelenting persistence. Nothing here is bad by any means, but tracks like “Krieglande” way overstay their welcome when I’ve been gently and delicately beaten into submission by everything that came before it.
Despite Helja Kor’s immense anguish, There are brief moments of beauty that peek through: “Danse Mej Brodar I Fyre” opens with a delicate acoustic guitar that effuses peace, and moments of “Sjelvind” evoke calm pastoral feelings through carefree acoustic arpeggiation. Moreover, the vocal performance, despite its contorted and ugly exterior, is quite interesting in that it’s sung in a constructed language that sits somewhere between North and West Germanic, so speakers of German or Norwegian may be able to make out certain phrases and ideas. I would love if Liljevars Brann offered lyrics and their translations to get a better idea of their point of view.
Content to wallow in mournful moods in a forest that seemingly stretches on forever, Helja Kor wasn’t the trap I expected it to be, but the carrot I got in the process was a bit overcooked and mushy. Liljevars Brann succeed greatly at establishing a woeful and anguished atmosphere in Helja Kor’s opening pieces, but the overlong length brings the listening experience close to actual woe and anguish at times. If you can stomach the excessive repetition and the overwhelming oppression, then Helja Kor should be mandatory contemplative fall listening. If that sounds like too much for you, stick with something that features a bit more bombast and grandeur.
Recommended Tracks: Helja Kor, Dansa Mej Brodar I Fyre, Brannstjerningen
You may also like: Caladan Brood, The Flight of Sleipnir, The 3rd and the Mortal, October Falls, Dreams of Nature
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Octopus Rising Records
Liljevars Brann is:
– Sjelvindur (vocals, composition)
– Kristjan (drums)
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