Black Book Lodge
Steeple and Spire

Black Book Lodge from Denmark returns with album number three, Steeple and Spire is what it is called and it is covered in clouds. Kind of a nice artwork on it I would say, so it certainly looks good and with the quality of debut album Tundra it is easy to have expectations even though the second effort wasn’t as amazing. The band describes this as a sunnier album, like the sun has come out to thaw away the snow and melt the ice of the winter, which is a good thing considering the long and snowy winter we just had.

On the more musical subject the press sheet has an interesting way of describing the album: “If Mastodon and Muse had a baby in Denmark and never taught it how to run, that baby would be Black Book Lodge” and I guess that is a fitting description of how it sounds. Progressive rock/metal of the slowish kind is another way of describing it I guess, it is an album that doesn’t have much uptempo parts or that much in terms of variation. I think the 44 minute playing time is a tad on the longer side, the album really feel kind of long and perhaps could have been a bit more dynamic.

Overall it is a good album, the songs are good and the atmospheres are quite good. Fans will recognise the band and their style of music, it is similar to what they have done before but with newer and perhaps sunnier styles. I think they could offer a bit more energy and more dynamics than what they offer on this album, more variation would not have hurt the album either. So I think the album is a solid effort but not a very memorable one, fans might like it but who else?

Kind of an album people will find okay to listen to but not many will hold in too high a regard, it lacks the memorable traits that makes an album stand out. The sensation I have when listening to the album is that the frozen works were better than the sunny ones and that the band feels capable to do much better than what they offer with this album. Feels like it should have been better.

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