Naglfar "Harvest" (Century Media)
By Taylor Green
Friday. May 04, 1:57 PM
Another step in the right direction for the ship of nails.

The ship Naglfar has come sailing back in with the band's fifth album, Harvest, the second featuring former bassist and founder Kristoffer Olivius as frontman. The band are notorious for their pioneering blackened death, perfect for a band hailing from the depths of Sweden: melodic death metal country. However, Harvest is probably their most decidedly black metal album to date.

Harvest begins with "Into the Black," probably the most upfront statement of the album's direction. While it starts with an ominous, melodic death metal sounding intro, the pace is severed by swirling black metal guitar and nonstop double bass pedals. From there, the new sound of Olivius' shrieking voice permeates the rhythm with a much improved tone and delivery from his work on Pariah, his first album on vocal duties. Olivius' delivery is a unique selling point for the band. While most peers shriek in indecipherable high pitched Satan speak, Olivius' has much more humanity to it and the lyrics are readily understandable. However, the vocal clarity in no way takes away from its deformity, as it sounds as fearsome as the majority of the band's peers. Moreover, for metal fans turned off by black metal vocals, Olivius' style may be welcoming and bridge the gap.

As for the actual album, it is in no way uncharted waters. Maybe by Naglfar, but not by the scene. However, everything can't be original, and for all the bands that strive to be different, there's no exception for sounding damn good and Harvest does sound damn good. Sweeping riffs akin to Viking metal mates Enslaved and Amon Amarth pepper the album from start to finish, and though it starts with a slower track, Harvest quickly picks itself up by the middle with "The Mirrors of My Soul" and "The Darkest Road."

For mainstream black metallers, Harvest should be a perfect buy as it bridges the gap between the more grandiose sound of acts like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth and the skin and bones approach of Darkthrone and early black metal. However, Naglfar still maintain a great deal of melody carried over from their original albums, and it’s blatantly obvious this album belongs to Naglfar. Fans of the last album should enjoy Harvest as much, if not more than Pariah. Simply put, it's another step in the right direction for the ship of nails.
www.naglfar.net
www.centurymedia.com

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Taylor Green

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