The internet told me Orm (‘serpent’) was an epic/atmospheric black metal band from Denmark that sang about Norse Mythology. Sign me up! The internet also told me they are/were known for sprawling 25-minute songs, but apparently they returned to the shorter songs of their 2017 self-titled debut on Guld, their 4th album.

So how do I describe Orm? Well, it’s sort of a mix of the sprawling mid-era Enslaved style, before they went full on progressive, mixed with more modern ‘post’ or ‘Cascadian’ style black metal like Deafheaven, Downfall of Gaia, WITTR, Saor, A Flock Named Murder, and more recently Terzij de Horde. And I admit, I’m rather enjoying it, at times blissfully so.

Listen, I’ll get right to it. There are some absolutely fucking stunning, gorgeous riffs on Guld. I mean, really breathtaking stuff- for example, the 3:30 mark of opener “Af Magt”, about 2 minutes into the second track “Undfangen”, or 2:30 ish into the third track “Rigdom”, the start and back half of the album’s most atmospheric, rangy cut,  “Undskammet”, and halfway point of “Martet”.

But that said, there are some lulls and pretty standard black metal in between, and since the band cut back on some of the lusher, rangy atmospherics and builds, they stand out more. But it’s still crisp, sharp, atmospheric black metal, that’s still solid. But I wish they delivered just a few more of the outstanding, and I mean out-fucking-standing moments mentioned above. Case and point, the closer “Martet” is 9 minutes long and literally does nothing of note until 4 minutes in.

There are still long songs, with 13 minutes being the longest, so it’s less of a slog than Inlet+Altet‘s 90-minute journey and 25-minute songs. So it’s a more direct album, and at times a magnificent album that is, unfortunately, possibly the band’s swansong. But certainly at times, a real high note to go out on.

[Visit the band's website]

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