In recent years there has been a rise in both popularity and overall quality of atmospheric (pagan) black metal. This movement has been spearheaded by bands like Altar of Plagues, Drudkh, Wolves in the Throne Room and, one of my favorite bands, Negura Bunget. Wodensthrone is also part of this and is by far worthy of being mentioned together with other top tier bands within this particular style of metal. With the bands very audible roots in the British Isles one can also be led to think of Primordial as well. Still if one source of inspiration should be mentioned it must be Negura Bungent and that is not a bad thing at all. Loss was also recorded at Negura Bungent’s own studio in Romania, so the influence is not that mysterious. Let it be clear from the start; Loss is a very, very good album and we are even talking a debut album here! First released in 2009 it has now been re-released in by Candlelight in 2010.

Compared with other bands in this genre the folk elements are perhaps a little bit more in the foreground. This however is never overdone or misplaced and only helps to enhance the overall feel of the album. A feel that is made near perfect by excellent musicianship a varied compositions that really grabs the listener and a very good production.  The center piece of the album is the 12 minute track “Black Moss” that just keeps on getting more and more interesting as it progresses. All tracks are well above average though and I will not hesitate to recommend this album to both fans of the genre and fans of other genres who would like to get to know this kind of metal as well. I am already looking forward to more from this very promising new band.