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Urskumug is a prominent band in the Latvian extreme landscape whose name had arrived to my ears some time ago. Now I´ve got the chance to check out what these guys are offering. The first thing to strike me is the absolute lack of similarities with Skyforger, the most known band from that country. In spite of imitating the homeland warriors, Urskumug is a sonic maelstrom which leaves the listener literally exhausted due to their fierce and restless black metal. Usually I say the typical “reference bands” and this time is no exception: Enslaved is the one which reminded me the most while listening to “Am Nodr”. The vocals shift between blacky shrieks and cookie monster-like ŕ la death metal, the guitars follow the classic patterns set by Norse classic bands, namely cold melodies with long notes, steady paces and solid harmonies and the rhythm section is pounding like hell, despite Urskumug employ programmed drums. That´s something I overtly dislike, in my opinion percussives must be played by hands and feet in order to convey the right feeling of anger, wrath and feeling to the music. Nevertheless, this drum machine sounds far better than other clinical batteries hanging around these days. If we pay attention to some human drums recorded in some studios –e.g. Abyss- the effect isn´t certainly better... Some occasional effects under the shape of samples and synths are added to the sound from time to time without altering the basic black metal sound which stands rich and thick, helped by a clean sound and consistent compositions. Another good surprise from Baltic countries!
| Tracklist |
| 1. 2012 |
| 2. Time Of The Jackdaw |
| 3. Beowulf |
| 4. ---- |
| 5. Talking As A Shaman´s Son |
| 6. The Guardian |
| 7. Am Nodr |
| 8. Mother Of Halfworld |
: 40.14
| Buy other Urskumug albums |
