Danish Viking Metal band Vanir has released their
third album, continuing the band's tradition of
fully embracing the viking and battle themes that
have been with them since their inception. While the
album boasts some more brief stylistic influences
from other melodic metal genres, it stays in
familiar territory largely throughout. This isn't a
bad thing at all, as the band's playing is so well
performed and the song writing is so strong that it
is clear that this band has a mature cohesion and
and is very aware of how to innovate in spades
without destroying their previous musical and stage
image.
The typical line-up with guitars, bass, vocals, and
drums is freshened up with Sara Oddershede's
Scottish highland bagpipes, incidentally a
traditional war instrument. It would be safe to say
that the bagpipes, while certainly not the loudest
instrument in the mix, are the driving force much of
the melodic and even, at times, rhythmic direction
of the music. This is made clear from the first
minute and there are only a handful of times the
lead guitars are given the spotlight. In this
musical context, it works extremely well. While the
bagpipes are consistently strong throughout the nine
songs, the standout performance is on "The Flames of
Lindisfarne," where the bagpipes are pushed more to
the front of the mix and the entire band just really
revolves around the it leading the breakdown, with
brilliantly supporting rhythm guitars. It just
really puts a smile to the face as it's that good,
and moments like this happen in spades throughout.
That said, it's unfortunate that the bagpipes can
also just be difficult to hear at times, even when
there is definitely something interesting going on.
The vocals, which are entirely grunts, work within
the context of the music and there is a definite
versatility in the performance, but at times the
singular grunting style feels limiting especially
when the band occasionally takes a few moments to
slow down the pace and turn some of the distortion
down. Still, it definitely fits, and the occasional
lyrics referring to barbaric warfare are a delight
to hear be screamed, really conjuring up a brutal
image befitting of the album cover. The other
instrumentalists are solid and sound great.
The nine songs all manage to find a distinct
identity despite the relative lack of
experimentation. The running time is actually just
about perfect - right when the album starts to sound
repetitive, bordering on reusing melodies and
rhythms in a way that doesn't sound like it's
supposed to be a motif, it promptly ends. It doesn't
overstay its welcome and it left me wanting more.
The song structures are varied and there isn't a
single weak song, but "I Valkyriernes Skød" probably
has the highest concentration of the album's
strongest moments. There are times where the
influences of black, thrash, and groove metal pop
up, and all the better for it.
"The Glorious Dead" is another strong entry for
Vanir and is a very enjoyable listen, if not
revolutionary. The band is very skilled at their art
and the expression of brutality in music and style
is just fun all around.
