NAGLFAR
Taking a “creative break” since 2007 may not have been the wise move Naglfar had perhaps thought it would be. It’s difficult to decide if Naglfar are promoting, paying tribute to, or simply copying the Swedish black metal scene with ‘Téras’, an album that tends more towards the standard than the striking. After their acclaimed 1995 debut, ‘Vittra’, rather than indulging their obvious capacity for the dark art, Naglfar chose inexplicably to emphasise their death metal influences and produce 1998’s ‘Diabolical’, an album that though good, didn’t deliver what was anticipated. Convincing in execution, their subsequent releases have ambled aimlessly through other equally abhorrent styles but never found nor settled on a sound that was Naglfar’s own. With Naglfar reduced to a three piece, ‘Téras’ is another attempt by the band to do or at least say something, but it’s not clear what, exactly. There are, however, a few tracks that are better than average. ‘III: Death Dimension Phantasma’ is an intriguingly atmospheric track, its galloping riffs providing momentum for the blasphemous barrage and the dynamics and layered guitar-work that keep it interesting. The same goes for the leaden pace of ‘Monolith’ and the dense atmosphere of the rampaging ‘Come Perdition’. But with much that’s all too familiar, there’s little to mark this out as anything other than conventional. Suffice it to say, the most appealing aspect of this album is the artwork by Niklas Sundin of Dark Tranquility fame.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Century Media
Album
TERAS
Review by Jason Guest
RUNNING TIME:
44:36
RELEASE DATE:
26th March 2012
TRACK LISTING
1) Teras
2) Pale Horse
3) III: Death Dimension Phantasma
4) The Monolith
5) An Extension of His Arms and Will
6) Bring Out Your Dead
7) Come Perdition
8) Invoc(H)ate
9) The Dying Flame of Existence
2) Pale Horse
3) III: Death Dimension Phantasma
4) The Monolith
5) An Extension of His Arms and Will
6) Bring Out Your Dead
7) Come Perdition
8) Invoc(H)ate
9) The Dying Flame of Existence
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Sweden
"It’s difficult to decide if Naglfar are promoting, paying tribute to, or simply copying the Swedish black metal scene with ‘Téras’, an album that tends more towards the standard than the striking."
