The moment the opening tremolo riff in “Gamle Norig” kicks
in, an evil atmosphere is created and the remaining 40 minutes are a journey
through some great experimental black metal! Taake’s music has stood through
the decades and is still going strong with the release of the one-man band’s 6th
full length album – “Stridens Hus”.
Taake is the solo project of Hoest, although the live band was
involved with their artistic input to this particular record. I called it an
experimental album, as Hoest does try a fair bit of variation mixing in elements
from other sub genres throughout the album. The result is not perfect, but far
from being left totally skewered.
The above mentioned opener “Gamle Norig” creates a
thundering atmosphere, a hurricane charging into the listener’s world and
setting a platform for “Orm”, probably the best track on the record. The track
feels like a death metal track spiced up with black metal on the top. The rock
riffs mixed with the black metal beats creates a nice pace to the track, and
the solo midway adds its own charm.
“Det Fins en Prins” is the longest track on the album clocking
just over 8 minutes. The track has the long melancholic vibes to it, slowing
down at instances, coupled with faster thrashier riffs. “Kongsgaard Bestaar” takes
the speed up a notch and the resulting attack of Norwegian black metal paves
way for acoustic doomy interludes, creating atmosphere akin to Opeth and the
old Katatonia. The mix creates something different, with the clean sounding
guitar taking lead with the distorted riffs playing far in the background,
something words cannot perfectly describe.
The variation works great on the tracks, but also creates
the biggest loophole in the album - album’s coherency. The amount of variation
makes the album feel slightly stretched and unevenly structured.
Regardless, this is a nice black metal offering, mixing the Old
Norwegian raw black metal soundscapes with the modern progressive music. The
vocals and drum work are top notch and remind the listeners of the old raw
black metal sounds, while the guitars bring the listeners back to the present.
