Blut Aus Nord - 'Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars'

As you can gather from the title, Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars is a sequel. French avant garde black metallers Blut Aus Nord released Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers Of An Icy Age in 1996, so it took them over a dozen years with several albums in between to revisit this subject.

Blut Aus Nord has been very experimental in the past, but returned to a more standard black metal style on 2007's Odinist. Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars has traditional black metal elements, but also allows the band to stretch its boundaries a bit.

Some of the songs are somber and majestic with atmospheric keyboards and orchestrations. Other tracks are cold and harsh with sharp guitars and a more evil vibe. The periodic interludes are melodic, mellow, and sometimes downright relaxing. That's not something you expect from a typical black metal album, but Blut Aus Nord aren't a typical black metal band.

The songs are long, with several clocking it at between 7 and 10 minutes in length. There is some repetition, but for the most part Blut Aus Nord has enough creativity to hold the listener's interest throughout. "Acceptance (Akse)" is a good example, with some memorable riffs along with lengthy instrumental sections featuring some nice guitar work.

Vindsval's vocals are buried deep in the mix, and sometimes get lost in the shuffle. Increasing their prominence would have added a bit more balance. Still, Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars is a really good black metal album that has creativity, melody, darkness and diversity.

(released February 24, 2009 on Candlelight Records)