Combine technical black metal with organized, highly orchestrated chaos with some interwoven melodies and you have an idea of what the Norwegian Bunkermetal of Drottnar sounds like. From a visual perspective the album cover fits that sound very well as do the Soviet-era style military uniforms Drottnar wear on stage. Ferocious, pummeling, and relentless in approach, Stratum is an album that starts fast and hard and never lets up.
Some biographies have the history of Drottnar going all the way back to 1996 when the band was originally formed by the Lind siblings as Vitality, only to change the name to Drottnar in 1998. The first demo, A White Realm, was recorded in 1998 and then in 2000 the band released a collection of demos together on an album titled Spiritual Battle on Plankton Records. Fast forward a couple years and Drottnar started incorporating elements like gas masks in their live shows. In 2005 the band signed to Endtime Productions and released Welterwerk in 2006 and around this time the band adopted the military dress uniforms as part of their image. In 2008 the band had a brief US tour including a stop at the Cornerstone Festival, which was my first exposure to them. At a music festival in stifling summer heat it is hard not to notice a band parading around in what appear to be WWII-era wool dress military uniforms. While my memories of their set are somewhat faded as I’m getting to be an Old-Timer, I remember the intensity and the images very clearly. Stratum has been a rather long process to release as discussion on the recording can be traced back to 2009 and there is even talk about mixing and mastering that you can find in 2010. Based on the length of time between Welterwerk and Stratum and the amount of time the album has been in process, Drottnar has obviously invested great effort in their third release.
While the album starts off with “We March”, most listeners would likely have heard “Lucid Stratum” as the first song off the album since it was released as a single in late 2011. The song immediately starts out with a fast, technical riff that to me borders on the painful or awkward side in terms of chord choices. This song is a perfect representation of the Drottnar sound and presumably the “bunkermetal” sound as well. There are a lot of starts and stops, frenetic pace at times, slower pacing at others, black metal vocals reminiscent of Antestor, melodic sections joined by orchestrated chaos, and the somewhat painful/awkward chords I mentioned earlier and need to explain a bit. Perhaps it is just my ears and sensibilities, but certain higher pitched chords hit me almost like nails on chalkboard, but not in an unpleasant way. I’m pretty sure that makes little sense, but I get the same feeling listening to a Greg Ginn (Black Flag) guitar solo as there is just something awkwardly different in the sound, structure and combinations of notes that falls outside of the norm. To my ears, Drottnar sounds much like old Training for Utopia crossed with Antestor, so maybe that will help a bit. The best thing I can really say is to listen for yourself and there is a video clip below that will be very helpful in that regard.
“We March” is the first song and video off Stratum and much like the previously described “Lucid Stratum” contains all the elements of the Drottnar sound. What I can really appreciate in this song is the use of melody and structure to provide context to the moments of general chaos that are also in the song. Combining this sound with the military uniform visuals also helps make sense out of this. The imagery suggests a rigid lock-step style and at first listen Drottnar seems to include too much chaos for that but on a deeper listen, the chaos is well orchestrated. It starts and stops abruptly almost like orders were given for the start and stop.
Musicianship and production are top notch on Stratum and given the style with so many different things going on in the sound, this a key to making this a great album. The guitars are continually engaged in some very fast technical riffing, time changes, and odd chord progressions that are mostly unpredictable and yet still fit together very well. The drumming really stands out as well as songs will have many starts and stops and time changes and this provides ample opportunity for a host of great fills. The black metal vocals help tie this all together as well as they provide some stability and seemingly control or rein in some of the chaos with their stability and intensity. Other bands approaching similar styles often have screaming vocals that are tend to go out of control when the music does, but Sven-Erik’s vocals remain in control, much like a general would be with his forces. From a song structure standpoint, Drottnar has captured not only the right balance of melody and chaos but also the timing critical for this style to remain listenable as just when you think the chaotic sections are becoming too much, there is a melodic section to set you back at ease and provide a well-needed breather.
Rating: 9/10
Tracklist:
1. We March
2. Slave
3. Cul-De-Sac
4. Soul Suburbia
5. Seven Suns Shining
6. Lucid Stratum
7. Ersatz
8. Wolves and Lambs
Band Members:
Sven-Erik Lind – Vocals
Karl Fredrik Lind – Guitar
Bengt Olsson – Guitar
Glenn-David Lind – Drums
Håvar Wormdahl – Bass
Record Label: Endtime Productions, Sept. 2013
Discography:
Doom of Antichrist, demo [1997]
A White Realm, demo [1998]
Spiritual Battle, compilation [2000]
Anamorphosis EP [2003]
Ad Hoc Revolt 7″ EP [2006]
Welterwerk [2006]
Lucid Stratum Single [2012]
Stratum [2012]
Weblinks: Facebook / Website / Myspace
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
USA: Metal Helm
Video below for ‘We March’