Wodensthrone – Curse

April 23, 2012 • Candlelight Records

I really should be looking into black metal instead of sludge these days. Somehow the whole genre just keeps getting better and better as time goes on, thanks to bands like Wodensthrone, who have crafted an excellent release with Curse. However, instead of branching the genre out into new territory, they have fused together, polished up, and perfected black metal old and new into a practically ideal sound, and they do it very well.

Basically, it's a really tasteful mix of black metal stylings: both a respectful nod towards the pioneering bands of the '90s and the atmospheric leanings of more modern bands. I'm not sure if their being British has anything to do with that (to be honest I'm surprised I haven't heard more good black metal bands from Britain), but all the same it's good to hear a band that does the etheral/depressive style in a way that doesn't seem pretentious or corny.

What we do get, anyway, is the kind of furious blasting black metal that often rides a very fine line between being generic and dull, and being awesome. Fortunately, most of the time Wodensthrone manages to stay on the good side of the line, combining it with the occasional awesome melodic line, for instance the middle of "First Light", giving the music a somewhat emotional twist that you don't hear much in black metal. The atmospheric bits are really great too, using slower drum lines and lots of acoustic guitar well. There isn't much else to say about their sound, as it's pretty typical (not in a bad way), although I am a bit skeptical about the over-abundance of keyboard / strings / choir. Sometimes they add to the mood well, sometimes they seem a bit superfluous. But when they do, they're mostly in the background, so it's not bad.

2012 has been a mostly great year so far and this is an album that's near the top of my list, not to mention perhaps one of the better black metal albums I've heard in general. Absolutely worth your time.

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