Throne Of The Depths is dark and majestic Viking metal. It's a diverse effort mixing raw black metal with atmospheric keyboards and acoustic folk. Drautran smoothly transitions from bleak and intense to grandiose and regal to mellow and introspective.

The vocals are also really diverse. They go from melodic singing/chanting to yells to growls to shrieks. The lyrics aren't in English, but in this genre you can't understand them anyway, so it doesn't matter if they're in German, Old Norse or Klingon. Throne Of The Depths is an impressive debut, and hopefully black metal fans won't have to wait another 8 years for the follow up.

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(CD cover courtesy Prophecy North America)