Kampfar – Mare (2011)

Making their return after 3 years, today we have Kampfar and their hellish brand of Pagan Black Metal. “Mare” marks one of the best efforts to date from this Norwegian outfit, and should not be taken lightly by both Pagan Metal and Black Metal fans alike.

For over 45 minutes the band will surround you with their guitar driven music, something that we were hesitant about since they parted ways with Thomas, the original guitar player. The use of some keyboards for atmosphere is also another strong point of this very well crafted release.

“Mare” kicks off with the album title track, but we feel that is a bit of a lukewarm start since the track is a bit monotonous. However, things pick up with “Ildstemmer” and they never let go. We particularly like the little creepy atmospheric sections here and there. One thing that comes out very evident is some kind of vocal layering used during the first track and in other sections, this sounds a bit weird and takes a bit to get used to it.

“Huldreland” is a perfect example of the atmospheric brilliance of “Mare”. In this song the band slowly builds up aided by creepy deep vocals and keyboards creating a very interesting atmosphere. “Bergtatt” is a balls deep Pagan Black Metal track that features powerful riffing and an overall crushing atmosphere.

“Volvevers” features some nice tempo changes and an overall different feeling than the rest of the album providing the listener with some sort of a breather. By this time you would have effectively noticed the pounding bass guitar line that lurks underneath of things. Our favorite song of the album has to be “Blitzwitch” because of the melodic elements behind it.

Closing of the release we have “Nattgang” and “Altergang”, two songs that feature melodic sections and crushing Black Metal passages with a hint of Black’n’Roll in them. These two songs leave the album on a high note and provide a more than satisfactory ending for 9 tracks of pure Kampfar at its best.

In general we have to say that “Mare” is another great release from Kampfar. The band has improved considerably since their first albums and shows signs of musical maturity. The guitar work is excellent, the vocals are hellish, the drumming is very well crafted and the bass guitar pounds away all day long. If you are a fan of the band or of the more melodic side of Pagan Black Metal, this is the release for you.

Release: March 25th, 2011 (Europe) / April 5th, 2011 (USA)

Country: Norway