Borknagar: Borknagar (1996)

Borknagar started out as something of a supergroup.  Øystein Garnes Brun, who had previously been in death metal band Molested, formed the band as a way to explore more melodic music.  He contributed guitar and songwriting and enlisted the help of Garm for vocals (Arcturus and Ulver), Ivar Bjørnson for keyboards (Enslaved),  and Grim and Infernus for drums and bass respectively (Gorgoroth).  Later incarnations of the band would feature ICS Vortex (Dimmu Borgir) on vocals.

Oddly enough, Borknagar was probably one of the first four or five black metal-related bands I ever checked out via buying an album.  It was early one while I was in college that I was just exploring the tip of the iceberg that is Norwegian black metal and Swedish death metal.  I was checking out groups like Dissection and Emperor on the black metal side (yes, I am well aware Dissection is Swedish) and Opeth and Dark Tranquillity on the death metal side.  It was among those groups that I picked up Empiricism, Borknagar's fifth album.  Yet though I thoroughly enjoyed the album, I never bought another one.  I decided to go backwards, picking up the band's debut album, which is a much different beast than Empiricism.

The music presented on Borknagar's debut album is a little bit different while still be recognizable as the same band that created the terrific album I was exposed to in college.  For the most part this is a far more typical black metal release, though there are definite moments where the band strays into the more melodic Viking metal sound they had in future releases.  The use of keyboards, particularly in "Tanker mot tind (Kvelding)" and "Dauden", and the clean vocals used on "Dauden" are dead giveaways that this is in fact an earlier version of Borknagar.  These are the moments that are the most compelling from the band, and remind that there are members from Enslaved and Ulver here.

I really do not know why I have not checked out more of Borknagar's work.  Maybe this will be the kick I need to get back into them.  I have loved both of their releases I have heard so far.