Borknagar

Borknagar | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 9, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B00000HYXC
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,145 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Borknagar's first offering is a harsh yet melodic and majestic black metal album, featuring the "all-star" cast of vocalist Garm (Ulver/Arcturus), drummer Grim (Gorgoroth), bassist Infernus (Gorgoroth), and keyboardist Ivar Bjornson (Enslaved), in addition to leader/guitarist Øystein G. Brun. Production-wise, this is Borknagar's most raw sounding album, most notably in terms of the guitars, which here have more of an abrasive, buzzing sound (similar to Enslaved) than on subsequent records. Meanwhile, the songs (there are five of them, along with five instrumentals/interludes) possess the group's trademark epic vibe, with sweeping guitar melodies, subtle keyboard embellishments, and cleanly sung/chanted vocal sections contrasting the music's more purely aggressive and destructive elements. Some listeners may prefer the slightly more polished approach of Borknagar's later CDs, but this is certainly among their best efforts and it definitely has more of a rough edge to it than anything else they've done. -All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars atmospheric black metal, February 3, 2004

By 

mysanthropyk_overlord (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Borknagar (Audio CD)

Borknagar's first album is all in Norwegian, which is cool because you can't understand a word they're saying if you don't speak the language. So, for anyone who's easily offended by lyrics, no worries mate! Of course, Borknagar's material supposedly deals with nature, which is a topic I like to hear about, so I can't understand how you would be. Anyway, if you started listening to Borknagar with Quintessence or Empiricism, this is vastly different, but gives a hint as to where the music would eventually go. It's not underground black metal void of synths or rhythm; the production isn't great but isn't as bad as some reviewers are saying, and is much better than early Emperor. The guitar work is excellent; Garm's vocals are good, but probably the worst of the three vocalists the band has been through over the course of its existence; and in typical black metal fashion, the drums really stand out. This is melodic metal, so don't expect anything brutal or evil. It's just plain good music. Get it now before they run out of copies. I hear it's out of production and will not be available much longer, but I don't know how true that is.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw and Harsh Norwegian Black Metal, October 21, 2002

By 

Chernobog (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Borknagar (Audio CD)

This is Borknagar's first release and probably their most raw one. The guitars played by Ivar Bjornsson from Enslaved and Oystein Brun comprise a wall of distorted electric mayhem on some tracks and on other tracks acoustic guitar passages with heavy Scandinavian folk influence are played. There are quite a few instrumentals on this album but they all fit perfectly into the song sequence and are very folkish and emotional passages. The bass work by Infernus is excellent and actually audible a lot of the time above the chaotic drone of guitars which is quite unusual for a black metal release. Despite this being their first release, the music is quite complex and very impressive, owing a lot to the legendary Garm of Ulver fame who does all the harsh vocal rasps and growls on this disc. There are almost no clean vocals on this album, unlike the rest of Borknagar's releases. There are great folkish choirs on some of the tracks which add greatly to the cold northern atmosphere. The drumming is fast but not standard black metal blasting and has good variety to complement the music, all the drums are handled by the late Grim who committed suicide in 1999. RIP Erik, your contribution will live on. Overall an awesome release from one of the masters of the genre. This is the way true Norwegian black metal was and should be played. Period.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bathory/Ulver Viking Black Metal, November 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Borknagar (Audio CD)

This CD has the ferocity of Ulver (alot due to Garms vocals and some perfect blast beats) with the epics of Hammerheart. In other words, it is classic. It is dark viking black metal, very violent and very epic.