Rating: 8.5/10
Release: 11 July 2018
Label: Independent

You never know what sort of treasure you will find when you sift thru hundreds of new bands on Bandcamp or on Encyclopedia Metallum. How about finding some epic Viking metal from Kentucky? For those not of US upbringing, Kentucky may be known more for bluegrass or country music before metal of any sort with the exception for me being Cryptic Hymn which features members of the now disbanded Voyage Of Slaves. I now bring you Nornsaga with their debut album “The Shores of Niðhöggr” and an impressive and complete a debut as you can find. Featuring a whopping 12 tracks at 60 minutes, Nornsaga have gone above and beyond what most do for a debut release with nothing prior. While there is now an established lineup, the album features only one musician….Dustin Thompson on all vocal and instrument duties. While a one person project may tend to have a little bit of a single dimension to their sound, Nornsaga has enough diversity in the styles shown to keep it interesting. Three acts that came to mind were Hammer Horde, Æther Realm and most curiously, I think a lot of Amorphis. Dustin channels the Finns not only in some of the keyboard passages and song arrangements but also in a vocal delivery at points similar to Tomi Joutsen, especially in the clean sections. Need some more convincing about the Finnish influence? Some of the track titles are Finnish in origin (“Kaivosmies”, “Tule Kotiin”, “A Tale Of Takaisinvaltaus”) with all lyrics in English throughout. There are ample blast beats, sweeping keyboard/programmed arrangements, guitar harmonies and solos galore. As if all of this wasn’t enough, the last track is an epic cover of Sabaton’s “Ghost Division” and I would say is definitely on par with the original. Any downside? I think the guitar tends to get a little lost sometimes and fades into the drums/background but luckily some of the other aspects carry the tracks. Despite that I still enjoy the overall sound of the album as it has a pretty fully produced and mixed/better than homemade sound to it. I also think this could have had more impact with a few less tracks (hard to believe I know) as it is an hour of music to dive into. I think a few tracks could have gone onto a future EP….the whole “less is more” thing comes to mind. So where does Nornsaga go from here? With other members joining Dustin now it could possibly alter their future sound but hopefully not much as I think he already has a winning formula. Let’s just enjoy what he has put together in a very impressive and polished debut…..great album.

Tracklist

1. Nornsday intro 01:17
2. Nornsaga 04:36
3. The Altered 05:32s
4. On the Shores of Níðhöggr 04:53s
5. Kaivosmies 05:10
6. From the Sky they Fell 04:29
7. Silent as the Stone Breaks 05:16
8. Tule Kotiin 05:46
9. A Tale of Takaisinvaltaus 08:20
10. Wanderer 05:09
11. Hanzo’s Letter 05:56
12. Ghost Division (Sabaton cover) 03:44