Utbyrd
Vargskrik

Some reviewer wrote that Utbyrd translates to warning, and I started to wonder in what language that was. So, I used the translating services online and found nothing on the languages I suspected, but I do not speak Norwegian so it might be that it is an older word. A search online didn’t really give anything on Utbyrd other than the band so, maybe that reviewer was wrong, or has some old Norse dictionary lying around which I don’t – there is no corresponding Swedish word and it usually is as the languages are very related. So, what about the band then, timeless melodic black metal classic says the label – and I wonder.

The cover looks great, and the album was actually released in 2017 by the band themselves, but Petrichor figured it was good enough to reach a wider audience, so they have made cassette, vinyl and CD releases of it. And if you buy any of these releases you get symphonic black meta with pretty strong dynamics between the melodic orchestrations and the black metal, orchestrations were done by Clemens Wijers of Dutch black metallers Carach Angren. I think that you are pretty much on track if you think symphonic black metal for your description of this album, it is such with really strong production.

Screams, growls and some massing clear vocals are what we are getting from the singing department, and so-so variation over the seven tracks that takes 47 minutes to play through once. There are no major surprises here, it sounds similar to what the symphonic black metal usually does, and that might show that the band from Bodø doesn’t quite live up to why they formed in 2012. They wanted to create their own unique blend of black metal and symphonic influences, but I don’t think they do as we have heard similar from many of their country folk and others.

Vargskrik that translate to Wolf Scream(s) is a good album, they have put together solid songs and make a fairly dynamic collaboration between the symphonic and the darker black metal. I am not that fond of the vocals, but the songs are good even though there isn’t any standout song. Fans of the symphonic black metal variety might disagree with the previous and find this album very interesting and will probably like it much more than I do, someone more initiated into all the layers of the genre might see more originality than a generalist like myself. Still, after this journey I am not so sure that it is the timeless, melodic black metal classic that the press sheet says it is, but it might be a step on the road for a band that eventually makes such an album.

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