1349
The Wolf & The King
Season of Mist
Norway's 1349 has been around the black metal block enough times now to know what resonates most in this oft-divisive genre - and more importantly what does so with the band itself.
1349 has tried sometimes radical experimentation in the past, and bears some scars as a result - notably from 2009's Revelations Of The Black Flame, an ambient/electronic-tinged oddball produced by CELTIC FROST's Tom G. Warrior and boasting a cover of PINK FLOYD's "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun". Demonoir followed a year later offering something of a progressive bent with six rather longish songs interspersed by seven short intros/segues, which didn't exactly right the ship.
1349 finally did return to form a few years later by stripping things down to its black metal essence and honing and perfecting that core sound. The subsequent Massive Cauldron of Chaos and The Infernal Pathway albums, from 2014 and 2019, respectively, delivered the raw, feral, evocative tumult the band had showcased on its first three albums, issued in rapid succession from 2003-2005.
Which brings us to the quartet's eighth and latest album The Wolf & The King. It does not stray far from the path of its two immediate predecessors - which should be of some relief to longtime fans. Indeed, if anything, it is a bit leaner and meaner, with each song a taut, tenacious showcase of - as the album's Bandcamp site promises - "pure, unadulterated black metal".
The Wolf & The King is utterly bereft of pretense - no symphonics, synths or any ambient intrusions. Though boasting a brash, contemporary sound, the eight tracks here take an icily direct approach with their compositions, which the band then delivers with vicious, teeth-clenched conviction, topped by frontman Ravn's malevolent snarl.
The only real variations from the primal black metal histrionics are the foreboding bass intro to "Inner Portal" and the gothy, industrial eeriness at the outset of "Fatalist". And both eventually give way to guitarist Archaon's slashing thrashy riffs and frantic trems, and Frost's superhuman/supersonic drumming.
Even with his well-earned reputation as one of extreme metal's pre-eminent drummers from his work with SATYRICON and GORGOROTH, Frost puts on a clinic here in both speed and agility with his sustained double-bass rolls and blasts and myriad athletic fills. And while Archaon's strafing riffs may seem simplistic by comparison - though they are undeniably effective on the tense "God Devourer" and "Shadow Point", groovy "Ash Of Ages" or bracing "Obscura" - his solos are lithe to the point of shreddy.
It could be argued that 1349 is playing it safe with The Wolf & The King, and there's certainly a degree of truth there since no fresh ground is really broken here. But that also seems to be the whole point and instead of making some bold creative statement, 1349 has opted to double or triple-down on what it does best and make it better. And for the most part it would be hard to argue that the band hasn't succeeded in that regard.
3.5 Out Of 5.0
