Evig Natt – Darkland (2010)

After their impressive debut album “I Am Silence” back in 2007 we were left wanting more from Evig Natt, and finally we get “Darkland” this 2010. This Norwegian band debuted combining Black Metal with Gothic/Doom Metal influences in a very unique way, getting them enough attention and acclaim for their first album.

With “Darkland” the band is back with a sound geared towards our favorite trifecta: Gothic/Doom/Death Metal. We completely love this genre, and we can say we are its harshest critics. With only a handful of bands that we discovered in the last few years that are worthy of carrying the banner of the combination of these three genres, we were pretty cautious when reviewing “Darkland”.

We liked “I Am Silence” very much back in 2007 and “Darkland” is another winner from Evig Natt. The band manages to fuse very aggressive music and super strong growls with very melodic passages and the angelic voice of Kirsten Jørgensen, and they do so with such grace that you will never feel overwhelmed by the power of the distorted guitars or the female vocals.

Right off the bat, you will listen to how well crafted the music is. We get rich sounding guitars that provide both distorted brutality and perfectly crafted melodic passages. The drumming is very well paced and provides enough fills for every single aspect of the band’s sound. The keyboards just add the perfect amount of atmosphere to make the music even more dramatic.

One of the reasons we greatly enjoy this release is the way it changes from very aggressive, fast-paced sections into completely haunting (and slow) songs/parts that showcase the emotions behind the music, for example between “Until The End” into “I Die Again”. Kisten’s voice is very versatile and it’s exploited to the limit in “Darkland”, taking advantage of her unique sounding ‘normal’ voice and also using her soprano abilities when needed.

Every single song features a vast variety of styles in them, making “Darkland” a very interesting album to listen since it’s never dull and it always makes you wonder what is next, with the only constants being the beautiful female vocals and the growls. Songs like “Sjelelaus” have even some Symphonic Black Metal influences in the way the drumming and the riffing are structured.

Overall, we must say that “Darkland” is a very rich and impressive album. The musicianship is top notch and the vocals just add the icing to the cake. Every song will make you think something different about this band (in a good way), but they all come together to create a great release. We hereby approve the Gothic/Doom/Death Metal stamp to be used in conjunction with Evig Natt’s “Darkland”.

Release: April 9th, 2010

Country: Norway