Bismarck - Vourukasha (Album Review)

Release Date: May 03rd 2024. Record Label: Subsound Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Vourukasha - Tracklisting

1.Sky Father 

2.Echoes

3.Kigal

4.The Tree Of All Seeds

5.Vourukasha

6.Ocean Dweller

Review

Vourukasha is the new album from Norwegian Spaced Out Doomsters Bismarck who bring a more furious and progressive mix of Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, Ambient Metal and Post-Rock which is all set against a desolate Blackened landscape. The vocals retain their harsh and violent gruff surroundings heard on their previous albums. Taking creative cues from bands such as CONAN, ISIS, YOB and Mastodon, Vourukasha allows Bismarck to provide their unsettling blend of aggressive Psychedelic Sludge grooves with a subtle Post-Metallic flow which has moments of blissful Post-Rock energy in the more mellower parts of the album.

The story is fused with hints of Middle Eastern themes and sounds that sees Bismarck bring a more world-weary narrative to the album which comes surprisingly real within the excellent opening track of Sky Father. With heavy Black Metal soundscapes giving way to some of the earliest and heaviest moments of the album, Bismarck is still surprisingly developing new sounds at the later stages of the track which blossoms throughout the whole album.

Vourukasha continues its Post-Black Metal journey into the far reaches of the Cosmos with pounding progressive guitars and heavy hitting drums which has a classic mid 2000’s feel whilst still offering an essential modern day sound. 

Bismarck feels like they’re taking the creative Post-Metal mantle of the legendary ISIS especially on tracks such as Echoes, Kigal and The Tree Of All Seeds. As these songs have similar movements, melodies and complex musical structures that iSIS were known for. However, Bismarck still creates and plays their own unforgiving and dominant style of music where they bring in that ferocious Black Metal sound which speeds up their music to a highly destructive approach which left my hearing continuously on edge throughout.

The final two tracks Vourukasha and Ocean Dweller brings a more cautious style of Progressive Sludge Metal with layers of distorted Drone and harsh vocals with that Middle Eastern energy becoming a true force of nature which allows Bismarck once again to play the heaviest moments through the entire record.

Bismarck are helped on their creative journey with Chris Fielding (CONAN) on mixing duties and James Plotkin on mastering duties who bring an extra level of true heaviness to the record which allows Vourukasha become one of the most essential Sludge Metal/Post-Metal records to own this year. 

This is a first rate album on all levels which Bismarck ultimately deserving all the praise and rewards coming their way.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Dark Essence Records for the promo.

Vourukasha is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Dark Essence Records.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Bismarck - Oneiromancer (Album Review)

Release date: April 17^th 2020. Label: Apollon Records Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Oneiromancer – Tracklisting

1.Tahaghghogh Resalat 04:17

2.Oneiromancer 09:15

3.The Seer 05:39

4.Hara 08:59

5.Khthon 06:48

Members

Torstein Nørstegård Tveiten (vocals)

Anders Vaage (bass),

Eirik Goksøyr (guitar)

Trygve Svarstad (guitar)

Tore Lyngstad (drums)

Review

Oneiromancer is quite a different beast to Bismarck 2018 debut album Urkfraft and you can feel that bold creative change on the opening song Tahaghghogh Resalat. As the song opens with some trippy Middle Eastern chants and chimes which does take some getting used to and it left me wondering how this album would play out compared to their wonderfully heavy debut album.

I do prefer Urkraft to Oneiromancer but this is still a strange and beautiful mix of different heavy styles of Doom, Drone, Psychedelic and Sludge Metal vibes with Bismarck feeling they are on a permanent ACID or LSD Trip which they haven’t returned yet from.

The album soon drifts into Post-Black Metal territory with the stunningly bleak heavy song – Oneiromancer – and it’s a disturbing vision of fast-paced blackened Sludge Metal grooves with the vocals adding a more abstract effect. The Post-Doom sounds do slow the mood down at the right moments with Ambient Textures adding a more grizzled effect.

Bismarck have employed Chris Fielding to help co-produce the album along with bassist Anders Vaage and Leif Herland. All three do a stellar job bringing a much needed bleakness and realness to the overall sound of the album. The album does sound quite spectacular when the heaviest riffs appear on the album with a deeply rich and progressive sound that was perhaps lacking on their previous album.

The album also has James Plotkin helping out with mastering duties with Chris Fielding being involved engineering and mixing duties as well. So Bismarck have pulled out all the stops in the background in bringing their creative vision to life. So top marks on that aspect of the album.

Bismarck continue their heavy and trippy Psychedelic journey on The Seer which is a more straight-forward style of Bleak sounding Doom/Sludge Metal that Bismarck play so well whilst still offering a slightly different sound on the album.

Fourth song – Hara – is a song that is very hard to describe with Bismarck going all over the place creatively speaking on this song but still perhaps offering the best song on the entire album. With the band employing a stunning mix of Post-Black Metal Droned Out Soundscapes to capture the wild mix of Drone, Doom, Sludge Metal and Post-Metal grooves with a Middle-Eastern vibe being hard in the background on the later stages of the song.

The final song – Khthon – is another wonderfully weird creative turn Bismarck have made with a cool sounding 70s Psychedelic Prog/Folk Rock feel that sounds inspired by OPETH. Though, that’s just my own personal view on this song. The band do return to a familiar style of bleak pounding Doom/Sludge Metal that have a despairing and world-weary heaviness to them.

Oneiromancer is a great album from Bismarck and I admire the band’s creative choices in releasing an album that’s quite different to their previous album. Though, like I said earlier in my review, I prefer their debut album to this one but this is still a wonderfully complex and deeply emotional album that still packs a powerful punch where the riffs are concerned.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Bismark - Urkraft (Album Review)

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

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp