Release
date: 05th February 2018. Label: Self Released. Format: DD
Urkraft
– Tracklisting
1.Harbinger 04:41
2.A Golden Throne
06:08
3.Iron Kingdom
08:07
4.Vril-ya 10:00
5.The Usher 05:50
Members
Torstein Nørstegård
Tveiten (vocals)
Anders Vaage (bass),
Eirik Goksøyr
(guitar)
Trygve Svarstad
(guitar)
Tore Lyngstad
(drums)
Review
Greetings All,
Ukraft is the debut
album from Norwegian stoner/doom metal band Bismarck. The band
delivers a killer multi textural sound across the albums 5 tracks.
The songs on Ukraft blend seamlessly together giving the listener a
dissonant, yet intense, feeling over the 35 minutes of achingly
beautiful darkness. Although the band is described as stoner metal
band, I didn’t really get that vibe. The record definitely has a
doom metal feel, even some elements of sludge metal in the vocals.
However, there is a unique, jazz inflected, shoegaze feel that
emerges through the reverb, feedback and heavy drone of the record.
The album opens with
Harbinger, the track opens slowly with a low bass rumble and drums
giving away to muted vocals that set the ominous mood that follows as
the guitars kick in and the vocals taking a turn for the sludge
filled. A Golden Throne opens with feedback and some killer drumming
before opening up into a heavy, groove filled riff that leads into a
musical breakdown that I believe has the guitars sounding like a
synth filled nightmare.
Iron Kingdom opens with
a couple of moments of silence before a bass groove makes its way in
to the most rhythmic and direct track on the record. The song has
intense vocals over a super strong riff with tons of the bands
trademark dissonance bubbling down below and deliver some haunted
soloing to close the track. Vril-Ya was my favorite track from the
album. The song features another tasty, groove heavy riff, but in a
bit of a more laid back delivery. The song is chock full of dissonant
guitars and artfully uses the quiet/loud effect to its maximum
effectiveness.
The album closes with
The Usher and its hard hitting wall of fuzz and fury. The song is a
mighty final blow delivered by the band that delivers some mighty
riffage and some of the more interesting sounds on the record.
There is a slow, steady
sound that Bismarck lay down throughout this record. Ukraft is a
promising, unique debut record that will appeal to those that dig
bands like Neurosis and Ufomammut. You can check out the bands
BandCamp page to obtain this fine recording. Let’s hope that Ukraft
gets a proper physical release that it deserves. Go check out
Bismarck and let the dissonance drown you in your misery.
- Todd S
Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou
Words by Todd Stealey
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