Long-running Norwegian band Kampfar have had a respectful career, and are held in high regard as being one of the progenitors of the pagan black metal genre, releasing two very respected full-length albums as well as the esteemed Kampfar and Norse EPs in the 90s.  After going on hiatus for seven years around the turn of the century, the band reemerged on the scene with 2006 album Kvass which, while good, wasn’t quite up to the understandably inflated standards set by their early work.  The mostly forgettable Heimgang followed, and here in 2011 Kampfar delivers Mare, which regrettably finds the band treading dangerously close to becoming a bland, mediocre husk of its former, glorious self.

There are moments in the early catalogue of Kampfar that are unforgettable moments of pagan black metal brilliance.  “Hymne”, “Troll”, and basically the entire debut album are without question genre-defining shards of musical excellence that cause shivers, and can come close to bringing even the most frostbitten misanthrope to an emotional release.  These beautifully rich and empowering melodic moments have admittedly been a tad scant since Kampfar’s reformation in 2006, but even Kvass had the rousing “Lyktemenn”, “Hat og Avind” and the fantastic “Ravenheart” to keep us enthralled.  Heimgang just didn’t seem to have much worth remembering at all.  It’s wasn’t bad, but it just comes and goes no matter how much of an attempt is made to really engage it and be engaged by it.  This is pretty much how Mare fares as well unfortunately.  By no means a terrible album, it’s well-played and produced professionally, but ultimately suffers from a soulless, inconsequential sense of malaise that really makes it somewhat difficult to get through.  There are wisps of the former grandness in tracks like “Nattgang” and “Bergtatt”, but the awful “Blitzwitch” screams of a forced attempt at accessibility and the majority of the rest of the material just fails to grab in any meaningful way.  Definitely disappointing.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Mare
2.  Ildstemmer
3.  Huldreland
4.  Bergtatt
5.  Trolldomspakt
6.  Volvevers
7.  Blitzwitch
8.  Nattgang
9.  Altergang
10.  Bergtatt (In D Major)
       (Bonus Track)

Total playing time:  50:48

Release Date: March 25, 2011
Label: Napalm Records

Kampfar - Mare

Reviewer: J. A. Burt

May 23, 2011