Brittany based black metal group Vindland have been around, on and off, for the best part of a decade. Until March this year, they only had two releases to their name. Hanter savet, their debut album and first batch of new material since 2009, sees the band return with a finely crafted collection of atmospheric black metal songs.
Vindland’s primary focus is creating evocative music that elicits feelings and images of nature, drawing parallels to acts like Windir. As such, they have sacrificed the heavy, oppressive sound of more extreme black metal artists in favour of something more digestible. There is an endless stream of quality riffs and guitar leads that are rich in melody, with little to none of the dissonance your standard black metal group might purvey, save for a section or two in “Pedenn koll” and closer “Skeud ar gwez”. Even the faster tremolo picked riffs sound quite pleasant. The guitar tone is a bit lightweight, although there is a satisfying crunch to some of the slower moments, such as the break in opener “Orin kozh” or the choppy gallops found in “Treuzwelus” and the aforementioned “Skeud ar gwez”. The bass drums also lack a bit of power, but the rhythm section still provides an effective pulse over which the rest of the band builds. As with many acts of this persuasion, there is a heavy use of acoustic sections. They are tastefully done, never giving the impression that it’s a crutch the band relies on when they feel the need to change things up. The subtle use of keyboards dotted throughout is also effective, kept low in the mix so as not to be overbearing.
There are one or two minor issues with the album. Some of the transitions between tracks can be very jarring. I think it’s very important to be able to immerse yourself in music like this to truly experience its quality. Many of the songs fade out suddenly, whereas it probably would have been better to have them bleed into one another. Also, as the album wears on, things can start to feel a bit samey. The quality of the riffs and melodies are such that I don’t see this as too much of a problem, but those who are not so enamoured with the music may see it as a stumbling block.
Hanter savet is sure to please fans of atmospheric/melodic black metal, and could also provide an accessible entry point to those unfamiliar with the genre. It’s a shame that there was a seven year wait for new material from this band. One can only hope there isn’t such a long wait for their next release.
Rating: 4/5
Highlights: “Treuzwelus”, “Skleur Dallus”, “Skeud ar gwez”
Band links: Facebook, Bandcamp
