Borknagar
"Quintessence"
I begin saying them that "Quintessence"
is a fantastic disk that gathers in 43 minutes many elements that we will be able to find
dispersed in different bands. They integrate with great professionalism moments of
intensity and fierceness that derive naturally toward melodramatic expressions. They
follow a superb, and clear composition plan, they print to each note the savage to be able
to of the best black metal. I remember that when I listened the first work of Borknagar,
I made it fundamentally because it participated in him Garm (of Ulver), in
my opinion one of the most interesting artists that gave the scene of the black metal.
Regrettably I felt a little defrauded with that disk, it was not what waited, I was not
surprised and I subtracted all credit to the future of Borknagar. Time later read
in an interview that Garm had moved away from this project (I supposed that due to
the new creative airs that motivate it), and good, Borknagar lost in front of me
the revenge possibility in a future disk... How much I make a mistake!, really Borknagar
you recess in something absolutely incredible... "Quintessence" has
things that they remind me to Arcturus (fundamentally to that of "The
Mascarade Infernale"), perhaps less sutíl but with that quota of dramatism so
original, with expressive choirs of epic vikinga to the Emperor... listen "The
Presence is Ominous" or the answer from Borknagar to "Du Nordavind
in Inner Landscape"; they are delirious with "Icon Dreams" or
with the brutality of "Ruins of the Future", and then "Embers",
or that that from a distance is the best song in the disk: "Colossus" a
theme that he goes direct to the list of hymns (next to the complete albums: "Nordavind"
of Storm and to "Aspera..." of Arcturus). The only thing
that could be reproached is an it disarranges regarding the reining climate in the disk; I
refer to the topic that closes the badge: "Revolt", is not that this
wrong, alone that I find not to keep it lines of coherence with what is the rest of the
badge, a song to means to walk between the dark and the gothic that well could be the
leftovers of some disk of Katatonia...
Equally, beyond this... soon I fell in the reason of
so much quality: Lars Nedland's keys (of the humorous Solefald) he makes
marvels with their hammond so much in mattresses as in you line melodic; the permanent
talent of Vortex, anything fewer who it printed incredible vocalizations in "The
Masquerade Infernale" (it sews that one suspects from a principle), with the
dexterity of a fish in the water to go and to return of clean vocalizations to rotten, or
to mix both in impressive form, besides taking charge with solvency of you line them of
under. They complete the formation of Borknagar the tandem Brun-Ryland in
guitars and Asgeir Mickelson (of the group Spiral Architect) in drums with
an acting to the height of the disk, that that that is to say very high... they Finish
giving form to "Quintessence",
with a correct production, a modern and sober aesthetic mark, something that gives
seriousness to a proposal that it deserves to be appreciated. From since it will be one my
outstanding disks of the year 2000.
Diego Carrere