The Flight of Sleipnir – Nature’s Cadence Review

By Maddog

The Flight of Sleipnir’s 2021 opus Eventide made ripples in the underground and grabbed my attention. The album blended stoner doom, acoustic folk, and post-metal, hardly groundbreaking elements. But Eventide distinguished itself by assembling them into a cohesive, beautiful whole, albeit one that hasn’t stuck with me. While we haven’t covered The Flight of Sleipnir since 2014’s V., I nabbed Nature’s Cadence as soon as I could, hoping it could catapult the band from goodness to greatness. Either way, I knew it’d be a breath of fresh air, and its gorgeous cover art was irresistible. Is Nature’s Cadence as memorable and moving as I hoped, or merely an interesting specimen?

While Nature’s Cadence doesn’t mimic any other band, it draws from a wide range of influences. The Flight of Sleipnir’s backbone consists of mid-paced stoner doom riffs wrought from simple melodies. These ideas branch in countless directions. At times, the guitarists Jeremy Winters and Clayton Cushman augment these stoner riffs with soaring melodies reminiscent of Elder. Other sections marry minimalist doom with a hypnotic post-rock aesthetic that resembles Amenra (“Vingthor”). Meanwhile, The Flight of Sleipnir infuses every track with folk elements that feel distinctively American. Placid acoustic guitar parts abound, while Cushman’s pedal steel adds subdued beauty. Accordingly, the vocals alternate between droning cleans and blackened screams. Even this laundry list doesn’t do justice to Nature’s Cadence’s diverse sound; the closer “Wanderer” alone deserves a treatise on its blend of foreboding spaghetti Western melodies, Maiden-esque guitar harmonies, and otherworldly Bergtatt escapades. Despite its variety, Nature’s Cadence never flaunts its uniqueness as a gimmick and never leaves any element underdeveloped.

Nature’s Cadence excels in its folky beauty, with mixed success in its heavier moments. The acoustic track “The Woodsman” showcases this best, gripping me through its narrative flow and its somber melodies. Clean sections of other songs hit just as hard; the opener “North” marries sparse Agalloch strumming with guitar leads that evoke David Gilmour on downers. Conversely, the doomy segments sometimes lose me. Some of The Flight of Sleipnir’s stoner riffs are too simplistic to make a mark (“Madness”), while others start strong but outlast my attention (“Vingthor”). As a result, Nature’s Cadence’s climaxes feel less explosive than they should. Still, the album’s redeeming moments make it hard to complain. The Flight of Sleipnir isn’t the next Kyuss, but the creative riffs and soaring leads of “North” are a stark reminder of their potential.

Nature’s Cadence’s greatest strength is how neatly it welds its pieces together. The seam between the album’s metal bangers and its serene folk elements is invisible. This is partly a result of melodic continuity, such as when “North” follows up a sparse acoustic passage with a doom rendition of the same melodies. Winters and Cushman’s guitar harmonies allow them to both mirror each other and establish striking contrasts, most notably on the spectacular “Wanderer.” Meanwhile, Dave Borrusch’s confident bass performance elevates Nature’s Cadence throughout both its peaks and its valleys. By laying down lead melodies during calmer moments (“The Woodsman”), enriching songs through subtle variations (“North”), and adding depth even with simple backing (“Vingthor”), the bass helps maintain continuity through the album’s stylistic about-faces. While the record’s longer tracks would benefit from more cohesion between different sections, The Flight of Sleipnir’s songwriting is impressive. Armed with a wide range of ideas and a dogged insistence on combining them thoughtfully, Nature’s Cadence stands out without sticking out.

Nature’s Cadence is a meditative experience that lives up to its ambitious title. On paper, folky stoner post-doom sounds like a prospective disaster. But The Flight of Sleipnir shines by placing fluidity first, resulting in a tight 39-minute record that does justice to its influences without sounding like a split. Punchier riffs would help the album hit harder during its heftiest moments. As it stands, while Nature’s Cadence won’t top my 2024 list, it’s a unique and rewarding listen for music fans of every ilk.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Eisenwald
Websites: theflightofsleipnir.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/theflightofsleipnir
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#2024 #35 #Agalloch #Amenra #AmericanMetal #Doom #DoomMetal #Eisenwald #Elder #Folk #FolkMetal #IronMaiden #Kyuss #NatureSCadence #PinkFloyd #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #Stoner #StonerDoom #StonerDoomMetal #StonerMetal #TheFlightOfSleipnir #Ulver

Eyes of the Oak – Neolithic Flint Dagger Review

By Steel Druhm

Written By: Nameless_N00b_90

One look at the cover of Neolithic Flint Dagger, the second album by Eyes of the Oak, and it should be no surprise that they play a mix of psychedelic doom, stoner rock, and traditional metal. That means fuzzy guitars, gruff cleans, and brief psychedelic passages of the kind that Pink Floyd plays on Dark Side of the Moon. These Swedes have previous experience in genres ranging from black metal to power metal, yet you’ll hear nary a trace of either on Neolithic Flint Dagger. Instead of high energy and soaring choruses, you’ll find an album with a mellow, laid-back sound that can sometimes pack a wallop. Is this a recipe for a good time, or does this drug-influenced concoction risk becoming overcooked?

Eyes of the Oak sounds like a mix between Somnuri and old-school Black Sabbath. Yet they are not as consistently high energy or heavy as Somnuri, and they’re not as exploratory or psychedelically weird as the classics. I found them most enjoyable when taking the heavier route, but their ability to blend styles adds a lot of depth to their overall sound. Guitarist Holger Thorsin, whose past work includes thrash (Chaosys) and black metal (Noctes) shows here that he has the chops to play any style. Drummer Hugo Thorsin (Noctes) shows off his work with an impressive intro on “Way Home.” Andreas Sjöström, who has experience on guitar with a couple of power metal bands (Wyvern, Diverge), contributes the necessary layers and rhythm that give the songs a little extra seasoning. Despite their disparate backgrounds, these musicians sound right at home playing stoner doom.

Whether Eyes of the Oak plays fast and heavy or takes it nice and slow, this album is fun. Opener “Cold Alchemy” is a heavy, rousing track that is sure to get your blood pumping, and it builds momentum for the first half of the album. “The Burning of Rome” is the other heavy hitter, combining wobbly guitars with a surprisingly bruising chorus. It’s the sort of song that will have you alternating between a gentle head sway and a forceful headbang. The mellower tracks, such as “Way Home” and “In the End,” reward patience and repeat listens, while “Night Visions” has a surprisingly catchy chorus. The variety within songs helps keep them fresh and enjoyable, even as most fall into the 5-6 minute range.

The second half of Neolithic Flint Dagger does suffer from uneven songwriting, however. Closer, “Offering to the Gods,” is the only song to extend past the six-minute mark, and while it does have some nice ideas, they are not developed enough to fill up the song’s nine-minute length. But the worst offender is “The Masters Hide.” This song doesn’t feel as cohesive as the other tracks, and the album’s vocal weaknesses are most pronounced here. Vocalist Andreas Sjöström does have a voice well-suited to the genre, and for the most part, he’s on point. However, his execution is inconsistent: sometimes flat, sometimes sleepy, sometimes talky.1 The promo materials for Eyes of the Oak say they recorded their debut album, The Stone Vortex, live in a studio. I wonder if they did the same here, and perhaps this approach puts a strain on Sjöström’s vocal cords.

Eyes of the Oak play a fun, accessible form of psychedelic rock mixed with stoner doom. From the giant glowing dagger on the album cover, you get the sense they don’t take themselves too seriously, and the album sounds like the band had fun recording it. It helps that they have some great ideas and capable musicians to carry out their vision. There may be a few kinks to work out, but I look forward to seeing how they develop their sound on future albums. So sit back, relax, and get high on… life? as you absorb the music of Neolithic Flint Dagger.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: X | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Self-Release
Websites: eyesoftheoak.bandcamp.com | eyesoftheoak.com
Releases Worldwide: August 23, 2024

#2024 #Aug24 #BlackSabbath #EyesOfTheOak #NeolithicFlintDagger #PinkFloyd #PsychedelicDoomMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleases #Somnuri #StonerDoom #SwedishMetal