Bornholm
Primaeval Pantheons

The Hungarians in a band named after a Danish island are back with a new album, following their 2013 release Inexorable Defiance that was quite celebrated by us at Hallowed. Their new album Primaeval Pantheons looks on the outside less interesting than the previous album and I can assure you that this text will not be as positive as the one I wrote about this band almost four yeas ago.

The music is the same pagan/occuld grand scale black metal type that we heard on what they offered the last time. Better sound, they have taken a step forward in terms of sound and the arrangements are better but the album don’t feel as powerful as the previous one. The vocals are typical of this kind of music kind of like croaking and growling, not really the most interesting way to sing but it usually works well in this kind of music and does so for Bornholm as well. The album is a tad on the long side due to it not being particularly varied and could use a bit more depth to really work.

It is one step forward and two steps back for these guys, as I wrote in the previous paragraph I think the sound is better but the songs are not as good and they still don’t really stand out in terms of originality. They need to thread down paths less threaded and find ways to express themselves that aren’t so widely used in the genre. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this album though, I think it is good and have no problems listening to it – but it is not the standout performance an album needs to be if it is to really make an impression. They simply make a solid album but no more than that.

There are no standout moments on this album, it has no top songs or things that make you take notice. The Hungarians make a strong case for themselves but in the end I think they need to be more daring and stop making such conventional music if they want to stand out. This album is good but it will only merit a few hundred words for this webzine before the files are deleted and the album forgotten even before it is released.

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