Since the days when black metal bands such as Emperor, Mayhem, and
Immortal were terrorizing people's aural senses, there have been many
imitations, yet very few that even come close to their standing. Austria's
Alastor has been around since 1995, but only released their first
proper full-length recently. Unfortunately for them, Silva Nordica came
almost ten years too late.
According to their press release, Alastor is nordic black metal from
Austria. Think about that for a second and decide for yourself if that
makes sense. That possible misnomer aside, Alastor actually does a fair
job of living up to the billing in terms of music. The overall sound
is filled with melodies combined with the militant style of drumming
that most black metal bands like to employ. The vocals are what you would
expect from a traditional black metal band, not too high and not too
indecipherable. What drops Silva Nordica a step below the best black
metal bands in the world is the below average produciton and nowhere is
that more evident than on Haichenbach, where the haunting clean vocals
can barely be heard. Any idea of creating atmosphere by lowering the
clean vocals is shot down because it gets taken too far. Two tracks that
appear to be filler are Summer's End, which does not even do enough to
set the listener up for what is to come, and Prologue, which is a full
minute of someone choking on something. What the latter is even doing
on the album, I do not know, but it appears to be out of place with the
rest of the album.
Alastor is a band that would have been Austria's first black metal band
to make an impact had they released a proper full-length ten years ago.
As it is, Silva Nordica is behind the times with ideals that do not
work as well now as they would have. Still, it does provide some moments,
especially for those who want to relive some of black metal's former
glory.
