Though France has a large monopoly on ambient, creepy and unsettling black metal, Germany’s underrated black metal scene has some equally excellent, if slightly more eclectic and unique acts such as Secrets of the Moon, Farsot,Todtgelitcher, Nagelfar, The Ruins of Beverast (a viable comparison for Fyrnask at times) and even going back to Bethlehem.  I’m pretty confident that Fyrnask is a band that should be added to that list sooner than later.

Sitting solemnly astride traditional frosty tremolo pick filled  Scandinavian black metal like Sargeist and Taake and occult infused, atmospheric, paranoia inducing acts like Weapon, Nightbringer, Deathspell Omega and such, Fyrnask manages to mix the two styles seamlessly into one impressive concoction. Though not as atonal or dissonant as some of the bands mentioned, there’s lots of brooding ambiance amid the riffs as well as some typically austere Teutonic elements that make it all recognizably German.

Clocking in at almost 60 minutes and with 5 of the nine tracks between the 8 and 10 minute mark, Bluostar isn’t a casual, brief listen. It’s definitely one of those albums that needs to be played in its entirety, at night, on head phones. After the moody intro “At Fornu Fari”, Fyrnask launch into one of the albums excellent, rangy, varied standouts, “Evige Stier” which starts with a scathing tremolo picked assault before taking a number of atmospheric tangents and brooding ambient segues that flow with a cold, but organic and calculating ease. The clean, almost pagan metal chants and singing lull the listener into a warm, dreamy trance but the mood is shattered with  a Shining (also a pretty reasonable comparison throughout) like spiral of shrill psychosis and acoustic, whispering madness.

After the atmospheric pulse of “Eit Fjell Av Jern”,  the second of the album’s superb epic tracks is “Ein Eld I Djupna”, though a mere 8 minutes, it delivers the albums second most moody,  controlled, almost doomy structures (where The Ruins of Beverast hues come through) even with a nice little Scandinavian explosion in the middle. An untitled spoken word track breaks up the mood before the unsettling start of the draining “Die Firnen Tiefen” , another rangy track that shifts menacingly between furtive, somber atmospherics and slick black metal. “Berger” thought still a longer track, is the most straight forward of the albums track, alternating between a steady march and traditional Scandinavian black metal structures, though a few atmospheric hums scatter the track here and there.

The production is crisp and clean, but retains a methodical, insidious edge, but admittedly by the time the sprawling, draining and droning “Ins Fenn” and outro slither from sight, I’m already in a cold sweat  semi comatose state, chanting in German.

Good stuff.