Ever since Immortal’s first few albums, winter has been
somewhat of a staple theme for black metal bands. Some choose to capture the
sadness and melancholy winter evokes, some concentrate more on its ferocity and
strength, and yet others attempt both. Frostwork’s Lore of Winter – Ealdspell falls most solidly into the second group
with its mixture of ominous ambience and harsh sections of black metal.
On its face, Lore of
Winter – Ealdspell is somewhat unimpressive from a purely instrumental/vocal
standpoint. The guitar work isn’t particularly skillful or adventurous, and
each of the album’s repetitive tremolo riffs are forgotten as soon as they end.
The drums plod away at a slow pace and are generally relegated to the
background, only occasionally speeding up to something more than a crawl. The
bass, while more noticeable than in most black metal albums, never really does
anything exciting. In fact, the only part of the music that is above average is
the vocals, which are usually the typical black metal shrieks but performed convincingly
enough to satisfy. Throw in a boatload of ambience, some clean vocals, two
spoken passages, and an occasional acoustic part and you basically have Ealdspell.
However, we all know that music is more than the sum of its
individual parts. The previously mentioned guitars are abrasive and cutting,
reminiscent of an icy wind, and they combine with slow pace of the drums to bring
to mind the image of a slow and unavoidable death brought on by the elements.
These slabs of black metal are broken and separated by the sounds of frozen
winds blowing, and these along with the sounds of someone trudging through the
snow and some acoustic parts remind one of the capriciousness of winter. The
vocals are lower in the mix and they echo like the voice of a man lost in the
wilderness during a blizzard, crying futilely for help. The tracks blend
together and give the album an undeniable cohesiveness.
But with so many different parts in an album, there are
bound to be some misfires. Lyrically this album is somewhat disjointed, beginning
with lyrics about a likely mythological white raven and ending with lyrics about
perhaps a female werewolf. I’m not usually too fussy about lyrics since, let’s
be honest, it’s nearly impossible to decipher what most vocals are about.
However, due to two spoken tracks the jump from raven to she-wolf is jarring. Separating
these two parts into two EPs instead of a single album would have been the better
choice artistically. Another flaw is one I mentioned earlier; the somewhat
average instrumental work. It is possible to create great atmosphere and immersion
while still having interesting and memorable riffs, but sadly, Ealdspell falls short here. And while the
tracks blending together creates the sense of a single piece of music instead
of just a collection of songs, there’s nothing interesting enough here to
listen to on its own. Either commit to listening to the whole 40 minutes or don’t
even bother.
Still, for all its flaws, Lore of Winter is a fair release. The instrumentals combine with
the ambient passages to create a compelling piece of black metal that manages
to work far better than the sum of its parts. If you are looking for a cold
piece of ambient black metal, you could do far worse than Frostwork’s Lore of Winter – Ealdspell.
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