«02. Skaur – Gravoel
Passion. The first thing to hit you about this album is the terrified quality to the vocals. It’s rare in black metal to hear a truly passionate voice when a lazy ‘otherworldly’ reverberated yelping can suffice. Absolutely not the case here; you can practically hear the tears shedding from this man’s face. At one point during the last track, the screeching spontaneously bursts into seemingly unplanned insane laughter mid-sentence. This is all kept in for an incredibly human feel, never letting the grandiosity of the melodies become too pompous. The clean male/female singing segments intertwined between the desperate screeching is hair-raising. This vocal onslaught coupled with the gorgeous, quintessentially Norwegian melodies makes for a breathtaking listen. The song writing is unrelentingly complex, making other bands in this sub-genre look decidedly amateurish, though after 11 years’ worth of releases, this Norwegian has had time to hone his craft. Considering how under the radar this is, it’s unlikely you’re going to hear about this again anytime soon. So don’t hesitate, check it out right now.»

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