Rating: 10/10
Release: 6 March 2015
Label: Van Records

I will be the first one to admit (and rightfully so) that I am guilty of overusing the word “epic” to describe most things that are cool, interesting, or just awesome…mostly, in regards to music. Hearing the new Árstíðir lífsins album in one word is truly EPIC, and in this case, I am not overusing it and I dare say, EPIC is not a strong enough word if you can believe it (notice my use of capital letters). While I thought Árstíðir lífsins (‘The Seasons Of Life” in Icelandic) previous efforts were extremely interesting and good listens for sure, “Aldafǫðr ok munka dróttinn” (“Óðinn and the God of the Monks”) is a monumental release in every sense of the word. With 9 tracks at 81 minutes (!) long, this is as EPIC as it gets, I have done the math of average track time being 9 minutes long (4:32 is the shortest and 13:42 is the longest) for you. For those of you wanting Wardruna or era 1 Mortiis to break into black metal, it is here for you. For those that may have wanted the latest Wolves In The Throne Room to have been heavier, here it is too. Lastly, for those of you that still worship the music of Quorthon/Bathory and wonder where his music would be today, I could hear where it could have eventually gotten to this point as well. Whether this is an album that could be listened to all the time is debatable, as I find it to be very intense and one that really requires your full attention and commitment to absorb all of it. This is like a voyage across an infinite ocean with huge swells, torrential rains, long windless days and dark moonless nights….a magical journey. With acoustic passages, spoken words, vocals of all styles and music to match, “Óðinn and the God of the Monks” lives up to its title for sure. To ask for a favorite track would be to ask what your favorite chapter is in your favorite book, all are necessary and equally important to the entire work. The production is natural and lets the musicians breathe in their space, not stifled or held back at all but also not wild or egotistically done….the respect for the art of the tracks is evident and tangible. With many epic releases coming out this year in the folk/pagan/Viking metal world, this may be the only one I can truly say is EPIC. Take note, although only February, this is my front runner for album of the year, good luck for anyone in the next 10 months to release something as EPIC as this ‘an incredible achievement in metal’ period.

Tracklist Disc 1

1. Kastar heljar brenna fjarri ofan Ǫnundarfirðinum 12:10
2. Knǫrr siglandi birtisk á löngu bláu yfirborði 08:16
3. Þeir heilags dóms hirðar 13:42
4. Úlfs veðrit er ið CMXCIX 08:34
5. Máni, bróðir Sólar ok Mundilfara 04:32

Tracklist Disc 2

1. Tími er kominn at kveða fyrir þér 08:34
2. Norðsæta gætis, herforingja Ormsins langa 06:10
3. Bituls skokra benvargs hreggjar á sér stað 08:20
4. Sem lengsk vánar lopts ljósgimu hvarfs dregr nærri 10:46