KINGS OF ASGARD – …To North

November 21st, 2012 by Yiannis

Metal Blade – Out Now

The story of the Epic/Viking Metal outfit King Of Asgard is similar to that of many bands which serve the above-mentioned genre. Four musicians with previous services in similar-sounding bands decide to join forces, create music that is heavily influenced by Bathory and offer their compositions to a younger audience whose understanding of what constitutes Viking metal is restricted to the works of bands like Amon Amarth.

What separates these four Swedes from the rest, however, is not only that their take on this style is far more imaginative, but also that they have managed to attract the attention of a label like Metal Blade with the help of which they are now ready to release their second studio release entitled “…To North”.

One thing you realise straight away when listening to “…To North” is that it can hardly be described as an original album, but what will eventually win you over is its solid production, its good levels of energy but, most importantly, its tendency of only gradually revealing the depths of its influences. While the first few songs on offer may lead you to believe that what you have here is a typical Bathory/Amon Amarth sounding album, the groovy riffs and eerie lead melodies that are especially prominent towards the end of the album prove that genres such as Doom and Black Metal are equally responsible for this band’s musical upbringing and that “…To North” has more things to offer the listener than originally expected.

Following a short and somewhat purposeless intro we are introduced to a mid tempo rhythmical piece entitled “The Nine Worlds Burn” – a song whose tempo and riffage is heavily influenced by Amon Amarth but whose vocals are more Black Metal in nature. In “The Dispossessed” we witness the introduction of the first Satyricon-style groovy riff, while “Gap Of Ginnungs” is a slow tempo piece whose guitar harmonies and choral chants are a clear tribute to the mighty Bathory.

Compositions like “Bound To Reunite” and “Nordverg” find the band moving back to generic forms but the duet of “Up On the Mountain”/Plague-Ridden Rebirth” picks up the lost momentum – the first is another Bathory-influenced piece, whereas the latter – a fast-paced Black Metal track, characterised by numerous rhythmical and stylistic changes. The album concludes in a somewhat ‘safe’ manner as “Harvest (The End)” is only a simply riffed piece and “…To North” is a moody instrumental track, one that allows Lars G Tangmark to prove what he can do with a six string guitar.

As I mentioned earlier, there is nothing really that you can find in “…To North” that hasn’t been presented by an Epic, Viking, or whatever-else-you-want-to-call-it Metal band before, so why would anyone choose to invest in this ten track album? Well, the first and probably best reason that I can think of is that this is a pretty enjoyable album – a feeling that is enhanced every time you play it. Now, if you add to that the fact that the performances are pretty solid and that the production is rather complementary to the compositions then what you have is a rather decent album, is it not?

John Stefanis

Rating: ***1/2 (3.5/5.0)

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