Going on hikes is a personal pleasure of mine, especially when having the luck of finding a spot unoccupied by people where I can watch nature in its stillness and grandeur. Borknagar at their best manage to catch this feeling in music, if a bit more dramatically, their sound whipping between a raging storm and the calmest forest brook. While their output can be hit and miss, when they hit, they knock it out of the park and far into the forest. I had a hunch that something was special was about in Fall from hearing the first preview track, but it was hard to quantify exactly what. Even when I started listening to the album in full, it felt very long and undefined. A shame, I thought at first, but I could not let the album go. Therein lies the answer at the bottom of Fall. It is a truly atmospheric album that sees a seasoned band tapping into their history and expanding upon it in two distinct ways. The vocal cadences and deliveries of both Lars A Nedland (clean vocals) and ICS Vortex (harsh vocals) are a clear step up from the usual, and they sound united in purpose on this album. Secondly, Borknagar lean into progressive rock more on Fall, and this allows the album to sustain its length.
Many of the tracks, like the opening and particularly huge “Summit” build towards clear payoffs. After having raged and broken down to softer contemplation in equal measure, the end is potent. The production by Jens Bogren (mix) and Tony Lindgren (master) serves the album well by allowing the guitars cut and drums boom in the most intense moments (“Afar”, “Unraveling”), while softer songs like the slightly cheesy but deserved “Nordic Anthem” has a lot of room to breathe. But it’s at “Moon” that the album truly starts to shine, when the vocal hooks start getting all the stronger and there is a rock ‘n’ roll and progressive rock feel to the riffs and solos that regularly steal the show. Even in softer moments, there is always a drum fill or intricate tradeoff between each member of the band that keeps things moving along, and this is key to making lengthy material like this work. The black metal does not take a back seat, however. Tasteful and tense riffs build tension and add drama with a more tragic feeling to them, and some double kick moments swell up regularly. It’s to Borknagar‘s credit that they’ve been along for so many years yet are starting to merge all of the aspects of their sound into one. Even when they start sounding like they’re repeating themselves (“The Wild Lingers”) there is a renewed sense that the band is firing on all cylinders.
Eliran Kantor‘s cover piece encapsulates Fall perfectly: the album is like a raging waterfall where a lot of different streams bash against rocks and make their own sound, coming together in an immense whole. Fall is more than the sum of its parts and is wholly serene in its intent, even at its most intense. I have poked and prodded at it for weeks since it released, yet even the only flaw I can identify in the 55 minute length feels like a nitpick. Progressive, confident, and beautiful, Fall is the first truly great album I have heard in 2024.
