Olde Throne – ‘In The Land of Ghosts’ (2023)
Rating: 8.6/10
Release: 31 March 2023
Label: Naturmacht Productions
New Zealand’s Olde Throne brings us “In the Land of Ghosts” as their latest release. The album is everything Black Metal should be. It has the rawness, heaviness and aggression of pure Black Metal and sacrifices none of it to create is atmospheric shroud of majesty. Yet without sacrificing these elements, there are some excellent Folk Metal sentiments throughout the album.
What was the highlight of this album is the track “Isobel” which combines Folk music with the typical sound of the album, keeping the melodies in place and the Metal dominant. “Isobel” proves that Folk Metal is still viable as a creative decision for bands who largely cover Scottish and Celtic themes in their lyrics.
The main drawbacks of this album was that it could have a more powerful atmospheric presence and keep the general rawness, just look at Saor for example, but sometimes you just want no frills Folk Metal even when you stray into the more ambient and atmospheric subgenres. And these folk sentimentalities does just that in the context on this album.
Tracklist
- House of Dun 07:17
- Skara Brae 05:19
- Isobel 07:02
- Cliffs of Culzean 06:09
- The Curse of Alloa Tower 01:22
- Duntulm 04:43
- Greyfriars Kirkyard 06:48
- Killiecrankie 05:02
- An Torr 04:29