Sweden's Naglfar have been around for 20 years. Since 1992 they have been slowly churning out black metal records. Teras is sixth album to date. Until I picked this up to review I was pretty unfamiliar with anything they have done. I don't venture too much into black metal, although I do make exceptions and don't completely shun the genre. So when I saw this available for almost three months I thought I'd give a fair chance and I'm glad I did.
Naglfar take their name and "theme" from Norse mythology. It seems to be pretty important to them, but quite honestly I wouldn't give a fuck if these guys were into Scientology and Disney movies. The music is good enough that the aesthetic isn't needed.
As I've already said, Naglfar play black metal and stick pretty true to the formula. Apparently they have gotten a little more melodic lately, but given my short history with the band I wouldn't know. Teras throws in enough riffs and quick bursts of blast beats to not even give the chance to discredit their metal validity. Kristoffer W. Olivius also give no indication of clean singing anywhere in Naglfars' future.
A lot of times it is hard for me to get through a black metal record due to the cheese ball factor. On Teras I don't feel like I am listening to a bunch of basement dwellers and as odd as it is, that is important to me.
I know the band now advertises themselves as a three piece with just vocals, guitar and second guitar. Dirk Verbueren of Soilwork lends the band his talented drum work on Teras and I'm pretty sure Olivius took care of bass duties to fill out the rhythm section. The end result is a well produced, slick and over all good black metal record. I'm not running out to buy everything the band ever done, but I was fortunate to finally give Naglfar a chance.
Staff Rating
3.50/5
User Rating
5/5
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Which is something I gathered from reading other people's reviews. Also I pointed out I had never listened to the band before.
"I don't listen to black metal, but personally I liked it so there's that. Here's a list of things to except (from this black metal album): blast beats, no clean vocals, some melody. Welp, done!"