Time Signature Pagan customs and beliefs...

Genre: black metal

This release by Norwegian black metallers Vithr is no less than historical. Yes, it is their debut-album (although a demo with the same title was released in 2010), and that is, of course a milestone in the history of the band, but it is also the first release on the newly formed Norwegian label Demonhood Productions.

Anyway, Vithr is an old school traditional black metal band, whose songs are about Scandinavian forests, pagan magic, anti-Christianity and topics from Norse mythology. In that sense, they are refreshingly old-fashioned, I think, but in terms of their musical direction, they are more innovative. While featuring many of the genre-defining features of black metal, the band have their own take on the genre. Perhaps inspired by Celtic Frost, they feature clean female vocals (to make things even more creepy) as well as more punky elements as well as some more folk-oriented ones. While there are some blastbeats, the band generally draw on heavy to midpaced tempos, and there are even a couple of melodic lead guitars every now and then.

Retrospective, yet forwardlooking, this is a pretty interesting black metal album, which - I think - will appeal both to fans of the genre (especially those who are into Scandinavian black metal) and occasional listeners.