The Finest Atmospheric Black Metal - "Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan" Review (86%)
I consider Belus the last classic Burzum album with old school black metal sound, I enjoy all their material from their homonymous debut in 1992 to that record. Fallen was a real let down with those groovy, slow-mid paced riffs and the two ambient records Daudi Baldrs and Hlidskjalf recorded with digital production just weren't good enough to put the band back in the black metal elite, particularly as they came out during a time where bands like Warkvlt and Vermin were releasing masterpieces of black metal atmosphere such as Bestial War Metal and Verminlust, respectively.
The intermediate Filosofem showed that they had still something else to give but I also think they didn't reach their full potential. Then came Umpskiptar with that fresh songwriting and soloing delivered by Varg Vikernes, somehow melodic but extremely sinister and insanely high tempos, as on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.
Which brings us to this album...
The brilliant Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan has the same level of belligerency on drums and composition wise is also melodious but always dark and intense, almost matching Burzum's seminar Hvis Lyset Tar Oss. Every song has catchy atmospheric tunes and is memorable from start to end. The traditional Burzum sound from Varg's insane riffing is also mimicked in most sections, giving the album a lot of tonal variety. Rhythmically the album is very rich, in both tempo changes and driving intensity.
Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan is an album you need to experience.
The Finest Atmospheric Black Metal
On the string department, the bass work stands out in the mix more than on most of the rest of Burzum's catalogue, which is a very good thing because when the bassist just plays along with the guitars it can get boring pretty quickly. The bass tone has to be thick and bright to have enough presence and add weight to the riffs.
All of that was perfectly achieved. The riffing goes from black metalish guitar lines, to early Darkthrone grind, to mid paced Fallen Angel worship, to atmospheric Neraines influenced darkness, combining the old school works with Burzum's post-2010 sound.
Varg's trademark vocals are surprisingly absent, as Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan is an instrumental album. Production is very clean but not over polished and the album overall is great, one of black metal's best records for sure.
It might be a cop-out commonplace, but Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan truly is an album that will either be completely loved with the affection of an eternal lover or scoffed at as some sort of bizarre hiccup after a consistent series of Phantom influenced black metal. There is definitely a particular context in which this music functions and it is largely for that of dreaming or meditation, and it functions quite well in that capacity.
One of atmospheric black metal's best work.
Sôl Austan, Mâni Vestan score: 86/100.
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