MARTRÖÐ – DRAUMSÝNIR ELDSINS

(Andy Synn sneaks in one last review just under the wire before drawing a line under the year)

With this being my last review prior to next week’s take-over of the site for my annual round-up of “A Year In Review(s)”, I knew it had to be something special.

And what better than the long-gestating, and highly-anticipated, debut album from a band – or, to be more precise, a duo – who seem set to take their place as the tip of the spear in the ever-expanding, and ever-abrasive, sphere of “dissonant” Black Metal.

So, please, allow me to present Draumsýnir eldsins… a vision of fire that will soon burn itself into your brain.

Certain words will probably spring to mind while listening to Draumsýnir eldsins, words like “scathing”, “scalding”, or “scorching”… but the word which you should really be thinking is Skáphe.

And this is because former Skáphe mainman Alex Poole is one half of the trans-atlantic duo who currently form the core of Martröð – the other being Hafsteinn Viðar Lyngdal of Wormlust/Guðveiki/Sól án Varma fame – which perhaps gives you some early insight into just how good this album is (and the fact that former Skáphe drummer Jack Blackburn, currently known for his work in Demon King, Ringarë, and Imperial Crystalline Entombment, is behind the kit here doesn’t exactly hurt either).

Of course, Martröð is more than just Skáphe by another name – even if much of the album’s torrential, dissonant turmoil feels like a natural extension of the latter’s third (and final) album – and the further you get into Draumsýnir eldsins (although currently only the opening track, Sköpunin, is available to stream) the more this becomes clear.

Indeed, there’s a sense of spellbinding scale and gloomy grandeur to this album, from the way the aforementioned opener transitions from seething intensity – all writhing distortion and absolutely punishing percussion – to simmering calm, only to then rebuild itself into something even more epic (further elevated by its captivating choral vocals) in its final few minutes, to the slow-burning conflagration of baleful beauty and blistering ferocity that makes up closer “Dauðinn”, which immediately sets it apart from both its past and its peers.

Throughout it all Poole and Lyngdal prove themselves to be undisputed masters of both melody and anti-melody, exploiting the tension and exploring the division between the two on tracks like “Líkaminn” and “Tíminn” by juxtaposing passages of anxiety-inducing discordance and keening disharmony with meditative movements of haunting ambience and humming reflection (as well as, it must be said, some absolutely huge, groaning guitars).

In a year which has been jam-packed with excellent debuts – and I’m not exaggerating there, as a huge proportion of my round-up next week looks set to be dedicated to new acts/artists making their first full-length mark on the scene – Draumsýnir eldsins still stands out as something really special, so if you haven’t made space for it in your End of the Year list(s) then you might want to take this opportunity to rethink things!