Borknagar - Fall (2024)

After blowing everybody away with their 2019 release “True North”, Borknagar is back stronger and even catchier than ever. The band has always distinguished themselves as one of those Folk/Viking/Black Metal with signature Progressive and melodic elements, and with “Fall”, the band takes them even further. If you like any of the band’s previous releases, this one has a bit of everything from all their stylistic changes over the years.

Opening with the epic “Summits”, this track has all the Borknagar staples: soaring clean and harsh vocals, crafty drumming, proggy guitars, and atmospheric magic. As the first single of this release, the band fires in all cylinders and creates a very powerful and dynamic atmosphere. As you can expect the deadly combination of clean vocals from both Lars and Vortex, makes this band the equivalent of having two of the best players, of any sport, on the same team.

We never really stopped listening to “True North” in the last five years, and with songs like “Afar”, “Nordic Anthem” and the dreamy “Moon”, this release will probably never really leave our playlist for a while, or until the next release. That being said, this release is not just more of the same, as the tracks like “The Wild Lingers” showcase a jazzier/folkier edge to things. However, if you like soaring headbanging anthems, other songs like “Unraveling” will keep you entertained.

Closing with “Northward”, we just realized that almost one hour has gone by and we are totally intoxicated by this release. Just like “True North”, Borknagar delivers waves of catchiness with very well balanced crafty aggression, creating truly memorable and enjoyable songs were the listener can instantly change from furious headbanging to belting out some killer chorus passages. Do not miss one of the best releases of 2024.

Label: Century Media Records

Release: February 23rd, 2024

Genre: Progressive Viking/Folk/Black Metal

Country: Norway