I came across Eldamar purely by accident. Having listened to Nargaroth and Windir, I was on the lookout for more dark, ambient black metal bands, and YouTube thought this would be a good match. And it did not disappoint.
I started with Eldamar’s first of 2 full-length albums, "The Force of the Ancient Land," and found it beautiful, melodious, dark, and brooding all at the same time. What else can a man ask for? I feel like their first album gets a lot of hate and negative criticism, but for me, personally, it is a great piece of work. Maybe I will write a review sometime later, but today, it's all about "A Dark Forgotten Past."
For those who haven’t heard of Eldamar, the band is in the world of fusion metal, combining the lore of Tolkien and its aesthetics with black metal to give us a piece of work that is truly atmospheric and as dark as it is well-rooted in black metal. And it works. Which makes me wonder, are there any other Tolkien and metal sub-genres waiting to be explored? Hobbit Punk, Dwarvish Industrial Metal, Numenorean Thrash, or Lothlorien Psychedelic Trance?
The sound of the band is unique, featuring dry, blood-curdling screams overlaid with ambient keyboard work, typical black metal riffs and drum work (tons of double bass here), with female ululations that make you feel like you've wandered into an old and dark forest with memories of forgotten lore full of demons and knights. On one hand, you have the enchanting voice of a high elven priestess guiding you while a faceless creature full of malice and hatred lurks close behind in the woods.
As you'd expect, the tracks are all lengthy, with "The Passing" being the shortest one at 4:02 and "In Search for New Wisdom" being the longest at 9:16, but the average length is 8+ mins. The album has a runtime of 52 mins and is devoid of any vocals except the contrasting black metal screams with soprano-style ululations. The guitar and keyboard employ the same tactic, with the guitars fading into the background while the white lady sings with keyboards in the forefront and then suddenly bursting onto the stage front and center with powerful riffs and guttural screams propelled by thunderous double bass drumming.
No doubt, it is an album worth listening to, but it goes about as far as a one-man black metal band can go, not very far. However, what it gets right, it does wonderfully well. It undoubtedly possesses the raw power to evoke strong nature imagery and a sense of calm and doom. But it only works for so long before all the tracks start to blend into one another, as there is no clear defining or differentiating characteristic in any of the tracks on this album. For this very reason, I neither have a favorite nor a least favorite track on the album. The high point of the album comes too late, with "The Passing," a surreal track reminding me of Arwen's pain and longing in the beauty of Rivendell. But just as you feel fully enveloped in her woe, the track ends. A shame it's not longer. Also worth mentioning, the last 60 or seconds of "Ancient Sorcery" are great.
When I compare this album to its predecessor, I find that while our current contender is leaner by 22 mins, at the same time, where the previous worked very well was its ability to drag you underwater and keep you there, purely by will. This feels more like a splash of water on the face. In plain English, while all the elements are there, they don’t all sit together seamlessly. Something seems off, and for me, it is the keyboard. On "A Secret by the Branches," it goes all '80s darkwave synth for a bit in the beginning, and overall on the album, I felt it doesn't quite carry the tracks like it does on the previous album. A bit like Lars' drumming on Death Magnetic.
So should you listen to this album? Yes, if you're a LOTR nerd and/or into atmospheric black metal, then this is right in the sweet spot for you. It is melodious, dark, and brooding, but it also has visions of beauty and a feel of grandeur of long-forgotten times.
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