Album Review — The Red Wanderer — Isgalder
I found Isgalder by a random google search for folk and black metal. I was presented with their newest album The Red Wanderer I’ve written various tidbits mentioning them. Today I was supposed to get their CD Digipack album, but it didn’t come in the mail. (Frowny face) I decided that since I hadn’t written in a few days that I should at least give my opinion about the album.
I don’t generally bother with material that I don’t like so you know going into this that I think the album has more than merit. The thing that got to me when I searched the album to see what people were saying I found several negative reviews. Just because a band produces an album themselves doesn’t automatically mean that the production is crap. The sound isn’t 100% clean by any means but I believe that was their point.
Atmospheric black metal is baked in treble and reverb. It sounds like you’re hearing the band inside a giant dark cavern. There’s something icy and evil sounding about atmospheric black metal that I quite enjoy. I love it so much that I entertain bands like Burzum constantly. Let’s not go down that rabbit hole though.
Let’s start from the beginning. “Isgalder is Old-High-German/Germanic and means “cold incantation” or “icy chant”. (Isgalder — Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives, 2020) I believe this is a fitting description of what they do. It’s all layered together with folksy vocals. It’s a nice juxtaposition in most cases to have almost angelic sounding synths with shrieking vocals, fast guitars, and drums.
The drums on this album don’t sound as tight but neither did bands like Mayhem. I’m sure there are people that statement will piss off but it’s true. They work in these punk grooves and that really hang together well. I believe that other bands should really study what Isgalder did here. They made everything just clean enough to make the album sound good but left the more human “dirty” sounds in as well.
If I had to pick one thing “Wrong” I think the snare sounds a little out of place. It could have also been a production decision. There are many great bands, some of them driven by a single artist that really captures this raw sound that Isgalder has on full display in The Red Wanderer. I feel like it’s all tight and clean enough to sound contemporary without sounding too raw, and not sounding overproduced. Its icy tendrils reach into your soul and tear it in half!
I saw that there’s a split up on Bandcamp right now between Isgalder and Alaun. I’ll be checking that out. While we’re here why don’t we look at some live stuff by Isgalder on Youtube!
This isn’t a pro-shot set by any means, but I just love lo-fi stuff. I feel like there’s a bit more bass in this video. As I said before Isgalder, “icy chant” really describes what they do well. The Red Wanderer sounds both independently produced and professional at the same time. It’s a black metal present all wrapped in a lo-fi ribbon that is sharp and properly measured. I am definitely now a fan and will review all the albums and work they’ve done the moment I can afford them!
Sources:
Images and info sourced from:
Isgalder — Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives. (2020). Metal-Archives.Com. https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Isgalder/3540436865
Live video recording sourced from:
Festivalgeier. (2019). ISGALDER — live@Dark Troll Festival X (31.05.2019 Bornstedt) [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6cZHZ8yFPs
