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A solid, richer Black Metal experience, but lacking in frostbit music.-
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| Taake: Taake |
Black Metal
Dark Essence Records / Candlelight Records
September 19th, 2011 / November 1st, 2011
- Fra Vadested til Vaandesmed - 6:47
- Orkan - 6:17
- Nordbundet - 5:25
- Du Ville Ville Vestland - 6:51
- Myr - 5:35
- Helvetesmakt - 5:27
- Dei vil Alltid Klaga og Kyta - 10:16
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| Review Information |
Release length: 46:48
Review posted on October 15th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Nattestid Ser Porten Vid (1999) • Over Bjoergvin Graater Himmerik (2002) • Hordalands Doedskvad (2005) • Taake (2008) • Noregs Vaapen (2011)
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| EP(s): |
Koldbrann I Jesu Marg (1996) • Nekro (2007) • Svartekunst (2008) • Kveld (2011)
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| Split(s): |
Sadistic Attack / Nordens Doedsengel (2004) • A Norwegian Hail to VON (2006) • Men of Eight / Lagnonector (2006)
Dra Til Helvete! / Restart the Night! (2006) • Swine of Hades (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
Manndaudsvinter (1995)
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| Compilation(s): |
The Box (Box Set) (2004) • Helnorsk Svartmetall (2004)
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| Review |
After another rather successful full-length outing with their self-titled fourth album, Taake return to the studio once more to bring fans craving "True Norwegian Black Metal!!!!" another sinister, yet haunting effort. Noregs Vaapen marks the fifth full album from the band, finding the group returning to the Dark Essence label, and being released in North America through Candlelight Records. As the band closes in on their twenty year anniversary mark, having originally formed under the name Thule in 1993 then changing to Taake in 1995, the band has not shown much in the way of progression musically, typically sticking to the same musical style despite the varying line-ups, and while this would be a bad thing for some bands, given the solid performances captured on previous releases this lack of dynamic alteration to the sound over the years has proved fruitful for the band. But, does this two-piece homage to the early days of Black Metal's most frostbitten times manage to bring another spectacular release with them, or does Noregs Vaapen suffer the same ill fates as Taake did?
One thing worth noting about this release right away is the richer audio quality. While not sleek or pollished in any sense, Noregs Vaapen clearly sounds thicker and richer, not utilizing any sort of rawer sound to benefit the atmosphere of the recording. Instead, all the colder environments laid out on this album are strictly from the band and the music they perform, which sounds fantastic here. The guitars sound much deeper, having a more blunt edge to them with some additional razor-like guitars that appear as backing then leads. These heavier chords are complimented nice by a strong bass presence that is loud, but not enough to drown out anything, ultimately just aiding the sound of the guitar's well to feed a darker, more sinister atmosphere to the release. The vocals here are strong as well, and very energetic. That energy really helps to weave a more haunting environment for the release that the music itself started, but couldn't quite capitalize on itself, even with the strong drums found on here. The snares don't quite fit the sound of the album, being more of a higher empty thud that don't really work during blast beats or just general fills with heavy snare presence, but when it's just catchier old-school Black Metal at mid-pace, it's hard to imagine any other sound working with it. The bass kicks are a low thud as well, and are greatly overshadows by the loud snares, at times, but powerful enough to make an impact when the cymbols become the main focus instead of the snares to really add to the deeper quality of the audio here that the bass pushes for.
But, with that audio quality, the album seems to lose it's more frostbitten sound, and it does end up being something you will miss in the end. Outside of that, the album is composed of first and early second generation Black Metal concepts, much like the previous efforts by Taake. The first generation concepts don't really show through as much, largely appearing during "Du Ville Ville Vestland" with it's more Heavy Metal inspired sound and fantastic guitar solo at the end of the track that really closes the faster paced track together nicely, greatly benefitting from that more blunt edge of the music then the more common following wave that plays a more important role to the audio here. "Fra Vadested til Vaandesmed" showcases how well that heavier sound comes across with the music then the constant sharper tone traditional to the style, but not leaving it behind as some more razor-like chords do appear moreso in the back, and during certain chords of the lead in some bridges, making for a nice mixture of the two sounds with a crisper production that captures them well, as well as the impact that the bass makes on the mix, though in some toned down moments of the faster sections that find the guitars a little less intense causes the louder bass to come through and doesn't quite mesh well enough with the overall audio and atmosphere of the song. Luckily, this doesn't happen to much with this instrument, though it can really shine through with the more blast oriented drumming that comes up in later songs.
Honestly though, while the snares do feel awkward, largely in volume, the way they hurt the music during those more snare-filled beat influenced sections is more due to how they are performed. The louder volume doesn't help that some of the snares against the faster guitars just don't seem to be at the right pace and come in just too late, throwing these parts of the songs off horribly. "Orkan" does it right, and it's with the more blast beat-esque approach that they seem to be timed well with the music, which isn't the same as the other similar sections on later songs. However, the way they are done here, along with the not-as-loud volume works well to help weave that eery, haunting atmosphere to this album well that one would expect from a Black Metal album such as this, making for a fantastic and creepy track overall that you simply cannot walk away from. The same goes for "Nordbundet." The song's more energetic approach sound fantastic and will immediately have fans headbanging along to the catchy second generation influence with a strong aggressive sound behind it. These two tracks really make up the most impressive songs to the album, but are not the only tracks here that can really impress the listener.
As far as those off-beat drums go, you can find them scattered about the album starting with "Du Ville Ville Vestland." This track has plenty of these moments, and it's odd to hear the awkward snares sound off while the thudding bass kicks sound perfect and well executed as far as the beat goes. The same can be found on "Myr" at times, which is actually sad to hear, but luckily doesn't happen too much, considering how unique this track is. First of all, the song really has an aggressive haunting atmosphere to it, and then later on you get some additional banjos thrown into the mix that work so well for the song in a more folkish approach, though for someone who lives in a region where banjos are not too common among the redneck neighbors, it ends up taking on a different perspective then it probably does for those familiar with the terrain associated to such Norwegian Black Metal and will more then likely give off a completely different understanding to some. "Helvetesmakt" suffers from the issues with the snares, but that's not the worst part of the song sadly, as the clip at the very start of the song just blurts out, starteling listeners not expecting it, and just feels very awkward considering it literally lasts for a moment and seems to really have no purpose to the song whatsoever.
In typical Taake fasgion, Noregs Vaapen ends with the longest track of them all. "Dei Vil Alltid Klaga og Kyta" makes for another great offering, and it becomes another song that largely shows how the snare drums can sound when at the proper pace. Even the higher volume level works for them on this track, as it helps to match the energetic sound of the track in general. The ten minute and seventeen second song weaves a strong intense and chaotic Black Metal web at the start, and really drives home every positive element of this album in a manner that simply refusses to let go of the listener once it's gnarled fans sink into his or her throat with traditional yet intimidating second wave Black Metal with a slight modern spin to it. The shifting into slower paggages is here, and allows for some good variety in the track with natural feeling transitions similar to other songs here, but thankfully the band does abuse this concept to the point where the album feels like it becomes a pattern to each song's foundation, even with this specific song.
But despite the problems with the snares, Noregs Vaapen is a very strong album. Sure it has it's faults, but honestly the songs here are really strong and much of the time really grab the listener. The lacking of a frostbitten sound to the album can be a big loss, but overall it's hard to sit down and say that ruins the entire experience since the darker, heavier environment the music establishes does a good job at creating a haunting and overall intense, aggressive release. If you like some solid traditional Black Metal material, then this new Taake album won't let you down, which should come as no shock even if you have already heard this band's material in the past. If you haven't heard a release from this group yet, then Noregs Naapen is as good a place to start as any to make yourself familiar with this largely unacknowledged Norwegian group.
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