Kampfar – Til Klovers Takt
Release Date: 11th November 2022
Label: Indie Recordings
Bandcamp
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal.
FFO: Taake, Early Enslaved, Watain, Emperor.
Review By: Rick Farley
Twenty-eight years of producing quality Norwegian black metal is not something too many bands can say about themselves. Way back in 1994, which is the most exciting and literally brutal era of this gripping genre, Kampfar was formed. Forged by Scandinavia’s harshest winters and influenced by Norwegian folklore, the band released their debut full length Mellom Skogkledde Aaser in 1997 to high acclaim. Just on the cusp of still being part of the second wave, Kampfar started to form a new path in 1999 with the release of Fra Underverdenen, which saw the band take a more neoclassical approach to their dark art. Over the span of their entire career, the band has released eight studio albums, two of which were nominated for a “Spellemann Award”, Norway’s equivalent of a Grammy, with their 2015 release Profan winning the prestigious award in the metal category. Now 2022 brings album number nine, Til KloversTakt with tons of progressive dark auras, brutality, and tremendous song crafting. Let’s check it out.
Grandiose opening track Lausdans under stjernene kicks off the record with cleanly strummed guitars that are an introduction of the ominous melody to come. A churning slower paced, open chorded chugging with synth accents, devilishly raspy screams over the droning riff create a troubling sense of dread. After another cleanly picked guitar passage, the band fulminates into infernal blast beats, wicked melodies and frosty tremolo picked guitars. Vocalist Dolk shouts a memorable melody during what seems to be the chorus, his voice is rough but not screaming or overly loud. The track breaks into another calmer but darker passage with more synth elements. Slightly discordant, you can feel it leading somewhere bestial. The tonal variations between musical passages and main parts are intriguing, producing an atmosphere somewhere between dark and mind-numbingly terrorizing.
A rumbling distorted bass line from Jon, pulses with the tribal style drumbeat, breaking into some atmospheric blackness on Urkraft. The bass drives a big portion of this song with a forward, constantly moving heaviness towards the next section. Big, but sombre melodies keep the ambience smothering between the tracks harshest moments. Suffocating airiness with musical violence, hopelessly dreary with surprising hookiness, this track feels like a live setting favourite. The unique heaviness of Flammen fra Nord is a mess of nasty voclas with background noises that sound not of this world. The vile guitars of Ole are a frozen blast of skin burning cold. Drummer Ask Ty goes from a militaristic style blast to crazy full-blown bass pedal madness and insane dynamics.
Six songs at forty-five minutes feels like the perfect length for an album that goes by much quicker. Each track is as good as the last, offering a fully realized, cohesive record. Written and recorded by Kampfar and mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren, the album sounds fantastic. Rich with warm tones at times, frozen and bleak at others. Every instrument and vocal is fully represented with stunning clarity.
Standing on the shoulders of everything that came before it, Til Klovers Takt is an album that draws inspiration from the bands rich history and moves them even further into their own evolution, creating an engaging, highly memorable piece of epic black metal. Kampfar remains an important part of the genres storied history and will continue to show why they are still relevant, making excellent albums nearly thirty years later. 
(4 / 5)
