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Bhleg - Solarmegin review




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Reviewer:
5.5

11 users:
7.27
Band: Bhleg
Album: Solarmegin
Release date: February 2018


01. Alvstråle
02. Sunnanljus
03. Alyr - Helgedomen
04. Gudomlig Grönska
05. Alstrande Sol
06. Livslågans Flammande Sken
07. Kraftsång Till Sunna
08. Hymn Till Skymningen
09. Skuggspel
10. Solvagnens Flykt
11. Kärleksrit
12. Frö (Växtlighetens Fader)
13. Solens Ankomst

With enough material under now under their belt to form a more thorough and balanced opinion on, Bhleg have seemingly developed a pattern of two steps forward, one step back.

Audiences may not always be able to separate their immediate reactions from deeper analysis of an album, but something most listeners can agree on is the appreciable quality of musicians striving to perfect their craft. Solarmegin is such an album, with a prevailing sense of completion despite its many blatant flaws. While not entirely contradictory in nature, its improvements are overshadowed not only by what led to the debut's mixed reviews, but by its overall immensity. Clocking in at a monolithic 98 minutes, this is a rather unfortunate case of quantity over quality.

Solarmegin sounds akin to most of the folk black metal albums released before it, so much so that its do-it-yourself production value stymies any sense of catchy hooks or melodies, often times burying the instruments in the mix and accentuating the raspy, shrieked vocals that grate against the inside of your ears after such lengthy exposure. The backing chants and acoustic interludes aren't interspersed naturally through the album, leading to a disjointed and inorganic feel -- ironic considering the nature-inspired themes of the band. Rather than creating a blanketing effect or tidal wave of sound, what Bhleg achieved (or settled for) is instead a hollow, tin-like wall that strips any weight from the tremolo riffs and hides the rather average sounding drum work behind a sheet of foil.

There are some benefits to listening to Solarmegin, though it may not be something you return to often/ever if only because it's more of a chore than a pleasure. About halfway through the album, there's a noticeable shift in songwriting that flashes with moments of intrigue and storytelling. It picks up in intensity and melody, culminating in the album's highlight run of three 10-minute tracks that quite frankly should have been kept to their own release, and the rest of this material saved to be worked on in the future. It's the kind of material that would be considered "weak" or "filler" on the genre's more iconic, titanic releases, but that's relatively outstanding for this Swedish duo. However, the back third devolves into the same repetitive and uninteresting style of the album's lackluster and disappointing beginnings, resulting again in that disjointed feeling.

If more thought was given to the structure and conciseness of some of these tracks, Bhleg could have had a solid overall album on their hands. It seems like a waste of resources more than anything, with songs playing out as half-constructed ideas stretched well beyond their parameters for the sake of padding the already burdensome run time. They obviously have a better rounded sense of creativity and conclusive writing when they focus on these longer pieces, but in order for an album like this to garner attention beyond its staggering length, it needs to flow more smoothly and actually present material worth digesting.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 7
Songwriting: 6
Originality: 4
Production: 4





Written on 24.10.2019 by I'm total pro; that's what I'm here for.



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