Skuggor is exactly what you expect it will sound like. Gothic font and grainy nature photo with themes of darkness, mist, and myth? You betcher ass it’s atmospheric black metal. “But I’m sure there’s something unique here, Hollow,” I can hear you say. Have you heard atmospheric black metal? You don’t listen to this shit for the neatest thing since Deftones. You listen cuz you want to be sucked into arcane and forlorn woods of ancient magic and nature untouched by human hands. I mean, duh. It walks the way of Judas Iscariot’s greatest hits and nods to the raw heroes of Evilfeast and Paysage d’Hiver, and hell, that’s not always a bad thing.
Skuggor’s greatest asset is its patience. Its sole member Matthew Bell offers this trait throughout his storied catalog of acts like Forlorn Citadel, Autumn’s Dawn, Mjältsjuka, and myriad others. Each offers nature-themed black metal unafraid of its more abrasive tendencies but relying on the soothing ambiance and contemplative tempos to do the talking. In this way, Whispers of Ancient Spells is an overwhelmingly safe album, smartly composed with a solid foundation of grim progressions, percussive plods, and shrieks upon which Skuggor builds its melodies. Across a reasonable thirty-two minutes and five tracks, expect this patient songwriting and pleasant melodies to take center stage in an album that does nothing to hurt or help atmoblack’s toothless reputation.
Skuggor’s patient songcraft makes songs perhaps feel longer than they are, which can be a good thing in this case. Firmly rooted in the depressive school of thought in sprawling strums with subtle tremolo flares and a plodding dirge-like pace, each track is built around a raw and grim chord progression, with some percussive and tremolo picking flare and a synth that never feels too much. Likewise, songs like the opening title track and “Silent Cry of the Forests Embrace” feel like a cleaner Evilfeast at a ColdWorld pace, with a solid undercurrent of double bass providing a palpable energy—necessary for this more contemplative breed of black metal. Starting with a glacial and unbearable pace, “As Fog Reveals the Path of Despair” and closer “A Forgotten Past” slowly grow across their respective runtime to include punkier beats then concluding with the only two appearances of blastbeats, all the while solidly anchored by chords and keys. “Shadows Echoing Through Time” is also a notable inclusion, due to its epic scope in the fusion of atmosphere and grimness.
The glaring issue with Whispers of Ancient Spells is that it refuses to take any risks. This makes Skuggor’s sound pleasant in its grimness but little else, as each track follows the same reliable but well-trodden path: loud drums and grim strums, shrieks, frosty keys, quiet passages with an overlay of plucking, repeat—in that order. The rapidity of the chord progressions and drum patterns are the only tether that keeps the album running at a pace other than contemplative, such as the quick interchanges of “Silent Cry of the Forests Embrace.” While this centerpiece is the most energetic cut of the album, it also simply drags on for too long due to its nine-and-a-half minute runtime, the passages growing weary by its dead-horse-beating end. Because of Skuggor’s more thoughtful compositions in adherence to the atmoblack a la second wave, no song particularly stands out: Whispers of Ancient Spells is a brief and pleasant hum that takes a multitude of listens to discern its undercurrents and movements beneath.
To his credit, Bell makes some solid atmoblack in the Skuggor project. This is cearly the work of a veteran, Whispers of Ancient Spells embodies the older interpretation of the style that feels distinctly cold and grim—spitting at the textured and warm palettes seen in more contemporary offerings of the same ilk. That being said, with how smartly and neatly it is composed, it loses a certain gusto by a certain point because of its stubbornness in not taking risks. Each track balances atmosphere and grimness with energy, but none of the above truly stand out or will impact your opinion of the style. If cold and traditional atmoblack a la Evilfeast, Paysage d’Hiver, Judas Iscariot, or Midnight Odyssey are your jam, then check out Skuggor. If not, you’re not missing much.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: ~190 kb/s mp3
Label: Naturmacht Productions
Websites: skuggor.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: February 23rd, 2024
