Album review: Naglfar “Cerecloth”
Sweden’s Naglfar combines fierce black metal with melodic death metal touches on “Cerecloth”, its first studio album in eight years.
Sweden’s Naglfar emerged as part of a wave of legendary black metal bands in Scandinavia in the early 1990s. Formed in 1992, they debuted in 1995 with the album “Vittra”. The new album “Cerecloth” is its seventh full-length studio album. It is extreme metal music with great melodies and an epic atmosphere. They combine the best of old-style black metal with borrowed bits from melodic death metal. It is not miles away from the signature sound of fellow Swedes Dark Funeral. It was obviously no coincidence that the two bands from Sweden’s cold and dark north toured Japan together in 2018. Naglfar’s core trio consists of vocalist Kristoffer “Wrath” Olivius and guitarists Andreas Nilsson and Marcus Norman. The rhythm section has in recent years been populated by hired guns, both live and in the studio. The album opens with the fantastic title track “Cerecloth”. The band’s music immediately grabs hold of the listeners and never let us go. The splendid “Vortex of Negativity” is my highlight on the album. The track’s combination of relentless energy and constant pummelling is gloriously magnificent! Even a slower song like “Cry of the Serafim” still comes with plenty of heaviness and a sinister feeling. Make no mistake about it, Naglfar’s music is still about “the usual death and destruction” as the band puts it. This album is a solid effort from a terrific band.
Naglfar’s new album “Cerecloth” will be released on 8th May via Century Media Records.
