Borknagar
Winter Thrice

Drums, guitar, and a choir. The very first seconds of "The Rhymes of the Mountain", the opening track of this Winter Thrice, the latest endeavor by Borknagar, a group that is more than just a simple band but an All Star Team, are enough to immediately immerse you in the chilly mood, as icy as the cover, of the entire album.

I mentioned All Star Team because, for those who are not yet acquainted with the band in question, it features some of the most important personalities in Scandinavian extreme metal. If we take a look at the lineup, we see names that are true legends:

- Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund (leader, among others, of the eponymous Vintersorg), on vocals

- Simen Hæsntes, also known as ICS Vortex (Arcturus, ex-Dimmu Borgir), on bass and vocals

- Lars Nedland "Lazare" (Solefald), on keyboards and vocals

- the historic guitarist Øystein Brun

- Baar Kolstad, the young drummer who also plays with Leprous

Besides these, there are other guests, including someone I consider a deity, so rich in genius and personality: Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg (does he even need an introduction?).

Alright, after listing all these renowned names, let's move on to the album. What is this "Winter Thrice"? On the internet, various genres are attributed to it – progressive metal, viking metal, folk metal, black metal. I (dare I say, don't kill me for this) would opt for a "Borknagar metal". Indeed, I'm not a great expert of viking/folk metal, but having some works of Bathory in mind and a few other examples, I don't see many references to the aforementioned genres. Or rather: they are there, but only concerning the purely musical aspect. But I don't see many traces of vikings and Scandinavian folklore. In fact, I don't see any at all. But it's not purely progressive metal either: there are tempo changes, but you won't find other fundamental elements of the genre, like certain virtuosity or odd time signatures. And, even less, is it a black metal album. One could use the label "avantgarde", but there isn't a lot of experimentation. Therefore: "Borknagar metal" is, from my point of view, the most fitting definition.

Not being a musician or someone who particularly understands the purely technical aspect, I will refrain from expressing such viewpoints to avoid, as they say, making a fool of myself. But let me tell you one thing: Winter Thrice sounds damn (oops, excuse me) good! It may not be a perfect album, but every element seems to be in the right place, at the right time. Surely it's not on the same level as other Borknagar masterpieces (I prefer, just to name a couple of examples, Origin and Empiricism), but this is an album that reaches and far exceeds the threshold of sufficiency.

Few weak points, few boring or uninteresting moments (personally, the only one that comes to mind as I write is Panorama), while there are many satisfactions, especially in the episodes where, after many years, the wonderful voice of Rygg is heard again on the Borknagar project microphone: in particular, the title track is the song that captivated me the most, the one I listen to at least once a day, even when I don't feel like hearing the album in its entirety. Another particularly well-done song is "When Chaos Calls", where a gloomy piano intro is abruptly interrupted by a very powerful outburst, not on par with black metal bands, but certainly very effective, which is then alternated with quieter moments and other outbursts, but also "Noctilucent" and "Terminus".

The production is crystal clear, the mixing allows each instrument to be heard distinctly, from ICS Vortex's bass to Lazare's keyboards, without the slightest effort: it just takes a bit of attention.

If we want to be really picky, like Giovanni in "Three Men and a Leg", there is a major flaw: at times, some songs seem to resemble each other. An example of this, some sections of the aforementioned "When Chaos Calls" remind me quite a bit, perhaps too much, of the opening "The Rhymes of the Mountain".

But other than this, quite serious, point, I haven't encountered major issues while listening to this latest endeavor by Borknagar.

Masterpiece? Absolutely not. But a very well-crafted product, at times perhaps a bit commercial (I think of "Erodent" as an example), with some catchy, almost radio-friendly choruses, easily accessible. But this isn't always to be considered a negative point. Unless you are a Trve Black Metal purist or, more generally, a metalhead who rejects anything even remotely commercial. In that case, I advise against listening to it. But if, like myself, you don't see metal as something that must be at all costs the farthest from the concept of commercial, then go ahead: put the disc in and press play.