Rating: 10/10
Release: 26 Marc 2012
Label: Century Media Records

Borknagar. Up until recently I’d never heard of them. Still, this band is already founded in 1995, and with Urd they release their 9th studio album. Time to listen thoroughly to this record!
Borknagar brings us ‘Avant-garde black metal’, a kind of black-metal which relies heavily on progressive influences. This album hasn’t much to do with folk-metal, though there can be found some resemblance while listening.
The major asset on this album is diversity. A lot of different concepts are presented, which all show a certain amount of coherence. From brutal black-metalparts to calm, atmospheric passages, everything is easily interspersed. What is most striking is the diversity in the vocals. With 3 vocalists in the band, they produce a really full sound. The result is that this record gets an unique sound. Screams, grunts, and eventually some choir singing which has much resemblance with the work from Týr, everything is present on this record.
Not only the vocals are superb on this album. The craftsmanship of the musicians is excellent. The songs are diverse, but catchy and get stuck in your head easily, something that isn’t always the case with progressive bands.
I can be short about this record, it’s awesome! Catchy, diverse and the songs are of a high quality. Certainly worth listening!

Tracklist

1. Epochalypse (6:08)
2. Roots (5:55)
3. The Beauty Of Dead Cities (4:15)
4. The Earthling (6:51)
5. The Plains Of Memories (4:27)
6. Mount Regency (6:08)
7. Frostrite (4:50)
8. The Winter Eclipse (8:45)
9. In A Deeper World (5:42)