Beats and yelling: Hersir

Hateful Draugar from the Underground
Out 28^th March on Darkness Shall Rise

Synthesises elements of early Enslaved with Burzum to great effect, but veers away from the detached cinematic narratives of the former, into something closely resembling the understated folk narratives of Isengard. The result is a satisfying reaffirmation of black metal as both an atmospheric construct and a form of modern lyricism in the loosely narrative sense. What it lacks in great fanfare it makes up for in stylistic flair, intelligent composition, and an immersive, wistful naturalism.

Production closely resembles ‘Vikingligr veldi’. A strikingly intentional ambience nevertheless makes room for the punchiness of the riffs and the elegant simplicity of the drums. Layers of guitar do the heavy lifting here, filling out the mix with cold, purposeful marches that leave ample space for additional harmonic material to flesh out the contours of each piece. Light keyboard accompaniment makes sporadic appearances throughout, spelling out the mysticism that was merely implied by the metallic instrumentation. Vocals are perhaps more on the aggressive side, dragging the experience to a place of ghoulish malevolence that is perhaps not present in the music itself.

‘Hateful Draugar from the Underground’ bounces between the more “traditional” intent of the Norwegian second wave and a later, Darkthrone influence rooted in crust punk and a playful heavy metal undertone. This latter element is resolutely integrated into the overriding mood of obscurantism however, appearing only at the periphery on certain tracks. The stylistic roaming undertaken on this album means that Hersir have set themselves the challenge of accommodating this push and pull between the intimate and the impersonal without collapsing into postmodernism. A feat they have largely achieved here.

Driving, linear rhythms carry the music along in trancelike gallops, allowing the guitars to build in gradualist waves of harmonic material, relying on the rhythmic momentum to foster the energy lacking in the initial riff setup. As the piece develops it is met with a handful of variations which, despite the occasional recourse to a tempo change, give the impression of longform ambience despite many of these tracks clocking in at barely longer than the average pop song. In this sense one could also credit Hersir with a degree of compositional efficiency lacking in today’s metal fostered under the limitless vistas of digital storage available to the modern artist.

Whilst some tracks are perhaps a little too underdeveloped despite initially provoking intrigue, this album represents one of the stronger contenders in black metal this year for its considered understanding of the form, finding room to manoeuvre in this otherwise tightly constricted stylistic space. Their ability to play with old forms and find new means of expression between the ambient intention of black metal and the material reality of its heritage in metal, making it still largely dependent on riff based construction.