ALBUM REVIEW: Neu Asen Land – Bergthron

Initially beginning life in 1994, BERGTHRON have, despite their lively and inventive sound, never gained the kind of wider recognition that they deserved. With one foot firmly planted within a sharp and angular take on second wave black metal, along with an underlying progressive bent and strident, atmospheric edge, even from their very earliest album, 1997’s one song monolith Verborgen in den Tiefen der Wälder…, it was quite clear that this band were musically distinct than the majority of German acts at the time. With each passing record, this band has only gotten more creative and quirky with their sound, going from strength to strength whilst getting musically bolder, with their latest album, Neu Asen Land, being arguably one of the band’s most imaginative and stunning works so far.

Skandinavische Expansion «Eismeerflotte RGNRØK» proves to be an atmospheric, yet ferocious, start to the record that perfectly blends together eerie, cinematic elements with harsh vocals and discordance, making for a powerful and aggressive song, hinting at the depth of this band’s sound. Aufbruch nach Neu Asen Land «Von Pol zu Pol», the first full song on the album, is a lean and energetic piece of black metal with biting guitar work, thunderous, intricate drums and vocals that, as showcased on the previous track, range from searing barks and howls through to sonorous, rumbling baritones that, alongside melodic touches, provides an epic undercurrent that counterpoints the forceful moments that comprise this songs backbone, subtly incorporating progressive flourishes without making them the central focus.

««« SOG »»» does a lot to accentuate the lighter, polished parts of BERGTHRON’s sound, coupling bubbling basslines and tight, imaginative drumming with haunting vocals and minimalist guitars that add a crystalline aspect, with the end result feeling like an interesting musical marriage between alternative rock and pagan metal. Horizont in Flammen «Sólfeuer’s Fall» sees the melding together of heaviness and delicate tones explored in greater depth, but does so in an animated and expansive way, seeing the proggy moments creep steadily towards the forefront of the music. There’s some urgent, jarring guitars that stab out of this relatively warm and engrossing effort, but for the most part this is a song driven by its hypnotic backdrop and defined by its excellent, soaring vocals, playing to the bands grandiose side quite significantly, allowing it to serve as an inventive and adventurous focal point around which the rest of this album is expertly built.

Schiffbruch im Sonnengrab «Wrackmente», another short piece of music in a similar vein to Skandinavische Expansion, again brilliantly ebbs and flows between coarse black metal and polished post-rock, with the sudden swings between styles working extremely well and ensuring this is an immersive and memorable effort. Gefangene der Polarnacht «In Nacht und Eis», perhaps the closest thing this album has to a “pure” black metal track, features some great leads and varied hooks that, much like the preceding song, manages to embrace a lot in a short amount of time, once again veering from light to dark with ease, with the punishing percussive bursts and arid, acidic snarl of the vocals injecting a generous dose of acerbic intensity into the mix and making this one of the album’s most frenetic offerings, as well as one of its best. Skaldenruhm erstarrt in Zeit «Arktischer Sarkophag», with its bombastic, spacey opening, gradually gives way to huge, swaggering progressive black metal that relies heavily on hard rock as its musical bedrock, with only the abrasive vocals remaining constantly caustic throughout, bringing this album to a close on a very different note than anyone listening to its more vitriolic moments would have ever assumed.

With albums as multi-faceted as this, with plenty of contrasts within its range of influences, it’s very often hard to get the balance between these competing elements right, with one style often dominating the overall sound. The fact that several of these songs often manage to be visceral, epic and slickly melodic at various points without these tonal shifts feeling too jarring is a testament to the songwriting skill that BERGTHRON have cultivated over the last three decades, with each of these songs embracing more eclectic musicianship than some entire albums do. In the annals of both German and more progressive black metal circles, this band don’t get enough credit as a creative force, and hopefully Neu Asen Land will go some way towards remedying this.

Rating: 8/10

Neu Asen Land is available now via Trollzorn Records.

Like BERGTHRON on Facebook.