Band:	Vanir
Album:	Aldar Rök
Style:	Melodic death metal, Viking folk metal
Release date:	February 2016

01. Black Legion
02. Pretorian
03. Unrepentant
04. Broken Throne
05. Wrath Of Sutr
06. The Serpent
07. Drukvisen

A year ago plus change, I reviewed Vanir's The Glorious Dead and found it a moderately intriguing and enjoyable romp through the Danish forests. Aldar Rök breaks away from the approach of its predecessor, presenting a much-altered Vanir. In fact, minus the vocals, it could have been a different band entirely that dropped this deeper, darker voyage through the misty mountains of Scandinavia.

Now, the difference between The Glorious Dead and Aldar Rök is that between Viking/pagan black metal and a slightly heavier, more melodic breed of black metal. Vanir didn't hire a kazoo-player and start line-dancing through Bee Gees covers or anything. Relatively speaking, though, the change is far-reaching and instantly noticeable, and it results in a much stronger sound and more mature album. In fact, sometimes Aldar Rök sounds as though Vanir have left the realms of black metal entirely and encroached on melodeath territory.

The guitars sound much fuller and grittier; they may not sound as distinctive, but the songs themselves have much more flavor and energy, and they provide enough avenues for the instruments to direct their strength into that the band's personality re-asserts itself in other ways. Riffing in songs like "Wrath Of Sutr" and "Drukvisen" has become greatly emboldened from the last effort and stands out more heavily. Vanir have also abandoned the bagpipes entirely and replaced them everywhere with keyboards, which provide a much more atmospheric flavor. Aldar Rök boasts a more confident, heavier, and more professional sound that endures much longer.

In revisiting The Glorious Dead, I noticed that it starts to drag towards the end; few things more effectively kill an album's replay value than an overstaid welcome, so the much leaner (by upwards of 15 minutes) Aldar Rök makes a wise choice in economizing with its time. The vast, mountainous chorus of "Broken Throne" testifies to Vanir's focusing of musical ideas and channeling of energy into more powerful units. The album largely seems to improve as it goes on, with the aforementioned "Broken Throne" jumping forward significantly and kicking off a freight train of energy that rushes through the second half of the album. Aldar Rök also improves with repetition, with "Wrath Of Sutr" and "Drukvisen" standing as the highlights alongside "Broken Throne." While it was a shock at first to hear such a different sound coming from Vanir, Aldar Rök improves on The Glorious Dead in many ways and presents a more interesting effort with greater longevity and power.