Northen wallowed in the rich history of the old Norse gone Viking. An ode to early visitors of white people to the North American continent who faced the terrible Skraeling. Science struggled with this fact, by the way. At first, the community would not confirm that early settlements existed in present-day Canada, and possibly further down South, too. And as grudging consent grew, it became clear that it wasn’t good ol’ blundering Columbus. It must have been Leif Erikson who unknowingly discovered a new continent – a few hundred years earlier.
In anticipation of the new record, the RMR crew already sharpened their swords, hefted their shields, donned armor, and were ready to sail into the blue yonder to enjoy the spoils of war. Little did we know that after 8 years of wait, SIG:AR:TYR didn’t have a taste for sailing about dangerous oceans in puny boats anymore. Instead, meet the Citadel of Stars. We’re going to space. So, let’s dust off our old spacesuits and join Major Tom. Or are we just visiting Tolkien’s brainchild? We’ll never know. But safety first. Close that helmet before you hit play, oxygen may be scarce.
Speak about a powerful entry. Awaiting the Last Dawn takes its time to get going. Monotonous, almost pedantic to a point, and reasonably hypnotic, you’ll find yourself in full immersion mode leading up to a powerful Atmospheric Black Metal piece. Majestic drums seconded by Daemonskald‘s vile rasp roaring into a thunderous crescendo spiked with a pretty snazzy solo. Old-style, somewhat lo-fi, blackened musings full of never-ending tremolos that transport the esteemed listener back to former times. Speak about SIG:AR:TYR again capturing the attention of the fan base straight away. Of course, if you’re looking for trve blood-thirsty blackened fare, Citadel of Stars may not be the right go-to record. Vredehammer just released a new piece, if you’re interested.1
But back to SIG:AR:TYR. Beyond the Stars Unknown lends some speedy power to the mix. And that’s one of the strengths of this record. It ain’t just a boring stream of atmospherics rolling your way like one of those slow-moving mud avalanches. There’s true geekery in the songwriting and da master knows how to break things up. From measured, slow-marching melodies, over a load of blackened moods and flavors, to speed excesses, and outstanding acoustic guitar interludes, you’ll get the whole spectrum. And often, that disturbing feeling of Bathory’s ghost haunting the record visits you. In other words, Daemonskald never loses that Scandinavian flavor harkening back to the early ’90s. And that’s a difficult feat right there.
And yet. One could argue that this record likes its noodling about the soundscape a tad too much. Creating a hypnotic atmosphere with a ton of repetitions that are at same or similar sound levels is nothing new. Especially for Atmospheric Black Metal pieces. But a runtime of just about one hour is indeed a big ask for any record. And Citadel of Stars may well have benefited from a brutal culling to get to a brisker delivery.
But then again, many Black Metal pieces thrive on that kind of structure. I sail on, Eternal is a very good example of that. Typical, oldish Scandinavian Black Metal fare, high on its comfortable almost simplistic roar. The hypnotic tremolos with the overly repetitive background roar together with the guitar interludes turned this track into one of the album’s best. The feisty Where the Sun Never Sets is yet another stellar example of blackened atmospheric geekery. And again, the guitar interludes, the story, the varied rasps, all of that coagulate into a shiny wall of sound. To offer some counterweight, Nigel Kay2 inserted some nice variations such as the black ‘n’ roll piece From the Land of the North.
Ultimately, though, Citadel of Stars ain’t all that different from its predecessor. If anything, SIG:AR:TYR focussed its new concoction squarely on atmospherics away from Northen‘s heavy stomp, which – again – fits the theme perfectly. Thus, the band created an artful array of Atmospheric and Pagan Black Metal fueled by a solid storyline. All of that broken up with rock-solid riffing and some of the snazziest solos heard this year. Extreme Metal truly worthy of an epic journey into uncharted territories.
Simply put, Citadel of Stars is – yet again – proof of Daemonskald in full form. That’s one sturdy, great record. Let’s just hope that we won’t have to wait for yet another 8 years. We ain’t getting younger over here, you know.
Ed’s note: And the record made it onto the 2024 Top 10 Records. Congrats!
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Hammerheart | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 31 May 2024