Frozen Ocean – Natt Over Meg (2013)

Completing Frozen Ocean’s ‘Norse’ trilogy, today we have the raw and decadent “Natt Over Meg”. With 33 minutes of raw and barbaric Black/Punk Metal split into 16 tracks, Vaarwel nicely pays homage to traditional Black Metal with a solid onslaught of instrumental tracks mixed in with a few filled with hateful snarls.

As the album opens with “I”, Frozen Ocean delivers a Darkthrone like atmosphere with raw guitars and a very basic and rudimentary exposition of the genre. The punkish drumming is very prevalent through the release. The whirlwind velocity of the band in this release is what gives the music a bigger authentic feeling, and the instrumentals like “II”, “IV”, “VIII”, “XII” and “XV” perfectly capture this violence and primitive riffing.

While there are plenty of tracks with punishing vocals, we particularly appreciate the unique balance between just catchy and direct music with the more structured and typical songs with vocals. The most surprising tracks in this release are “IX” and “X”, the first one a very passive piano-based instrumental and the later one a very cool song that has a nice atmosphere and feels unique and different to the rest of the release.

Frozen Ocean has managed once again to capture the raw and nihilistic vibe of old-school Norwegian Black Metal with “Natt Over Meg”. Filled with cool riffs and crafty drum patterns, this release is quite entertaining and direct. If you like the band’s atmospheric stuff only, this might not be for you, but if you enjoy their raw and destructive side, this is one album you don’t want to miss.

Label: Obscure Abhorrence Productions

Release: November 18th, 2013

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Russia