Swedish band Skogen return with their fourth full length, after Vittra, Svitjod and Eld, released respectively in 2009, 2011 and 2012 via Russia’s Frostcald Records, a small but underestimated label known for many excellent Black Metal releases.
The trio released a digital single at the end of February which gave an idea of what to expect with this new studio record, and indeed, there is nothing that hugely differs from the past. That’s the way it should be, of course. All right, Eld might have sounded slightly more evolved (little more modernised), but in essence, Skogen still bring their somewhat traditional form of Nordic-styled Black Metal with their characteristic atmospheric approach. The album lasts for almost one hour, but it fascinates almost whole the time. This has to do with the band’s own approach. At the one hand there are the traditional elements that make this specific kind of epic and desolate Black Metal so great. But at the other, Skogen inject their material with details from Viking Metal (like the harmony choirs, the clean and melodic vocals, or the acoustic additions; when it comes to the latter, it goes for both excerpts within a song, as for acoustic pieces that stand on their own too), they use atmospheric keyboard lines most of the time (important note: these keyboard parts are NOT of the bombastic-symphonic kind, yet of the atmospheric one!), and they impress with a great variety in tempo (even though the whole gets mainly focused on pretty slow structural themes), performance and song-structure. Despite their Swedish origins, I would rather classify them as a Norwegian band, but this isn’t that especial anymore. Falkenbach or Fen, early Satyricon, Hades / Hades Almighty, Windir, Ulver (the pre-Themes …-era), hints of Bathory and Moonsorrow, yet also the Canadian scene (with the one from Quebec more specifically), East-European acts like Hellveto or Raventale, or some acts on Lupus Lounge; it’s just a list of possible comparisons that could describe the bleak, melancholic and epic stuff provided via I Döden.
Please also check out: Grift with the record Fyra Elegier – see update March 13th 2014 – in case you do appreciate this kind of stuff!