What We’ve All Been Waiting For – 100%
Lunar_Strain, September 30th, 2006
My God.. this album is… tear jerking for the sheer force of how beautiful it is. Borknagar have completely ascended to a new level of beauty. Origin is the album we have all been waiting for. The folk elements used in their metal are finally revealed to us in full force. If you thought Borknagar couldn’t sound good without metal.. you’re dead wrong. Origin is the BEST Borknagar album since their debut.
I should mention the acoustics first, since they are one of the most outstanding attributes of this album. They’re crisp, clear, and performed absolutely beautiful. The guitars and the mandolins are on top of each at some parts, and they sound absolutely gorgeous. They are the driving force of the atmosphere, and combined with the keyboards.. it’s unfathomable.
Speaking of keyboards… they’re perfect. They make so much atmosphere in this that it’s impossible not to fall in love with the ambience. They’ve reinforced the other instruments in the recording in such a way, that the albums seems ALIVE.
The bass is audible! And it seems to follow BOTH, the guitars/mandolins and the synthesizers, adding much more atmosphere, which is great for a recording of this caliber.
The drums are beautiful. They’re stuck back in the backround a bit, but they’re up enough to be audible and leveled perfectly to suit the tones of the other instruments. When I found out this was all acoustic folk, I had not expected there to be drums. In fact, I thought they’d screw up the sound. How wrong I was. The drums support all the other instruments perfectly.
The vocals.. are tear jerking. The most outstanding attribute of this album are the vocals. The Borknagar group has, again, amazed me with how well done their clean vocals are performed. When you have a vocalist that can, both, growl and sing clean, you’ve got a very talented band member. This album… is just Godly. I recommend everyone listen to this album.
rafazardly 