Skaur – Skaur (2011)

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After releasing 10 demos and two splits, Skaur finally decides to unleash upon the world their first self-titled full-length release, and it is an excellent one we might say. While almost everything in Black Metal has been played or done before, Skaur manages to sneak by with six very interesting tracks that incorporate many of the traditional aspects of the genre, but have their own particular elements that make them stand out from the rest of the BM albums we get.

Since the opener “Fullmaanesang” the band sets a furious pace with perfectly crafted melodic elements (like the bass guitar line) and some very powerful acoustic passages. This combination allows the band’s sound to be more devastating since it keeps you at the edge of your seat waiting for what is coming next. The riffing on track like “Nordnorsk Svartmetall” is pretty standard for BM, but the drum patterns nicely break the ‘traditional’ schemes the genre has and makes the songs more dynamic. The band also whips out some eerie clean vocals that out of nowhere give extra depth to an already interesting sound.

On “Heimfar”, the band again takes advantage of many tempo changes to achieve very intricate melodies. This track is by far our favorite one of “Skaur”. Never letting go of the raw and grimness of Black Metal, the band pummels through “Om sorg og helvete” and “Skaur”. The vocals are top notch and give that BM power that we all love, but it is the combination of different layers (on “Skaur” particularly) that makes the songs much more powerful.

As all good things need to come to an end, “Midnattsol” nicely serenades the listener into the conclusion of an excellent album. After this point, there was literarily a two second thought process into hitting the play button once more on this album.

Featuring high-replay value “Sakur” is one of the best ‘interesting’ Black Metal albums we have received in 2011. The band seems to finally be coming out of their ‘kvlt’ status, and with such and impressive release they will surely get picked up by a label soon. If you like your Black Metal to be cold and grim but with dynamic songs and varied sounds, “Skaur” is definitely the album you should be investing in. So wait no further and head to the band’s page to order this secret gem.

Band: Skaur Album: Skaur
Label: Self-Released

Release: 2011

Oficial Site myspace
Genre: Black Metal

Country: Norway

Rating: 89/100
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