Neraines - Yggdrasil

Neraines emerged as a wave of bands attempting to re-infuse black metal with its inherent melodic and atmospheric majesty, approaching the integration of complexity in a manner dissimilar to that of sub-genre public figures Dissection and Satyricon who eschewed the evolution in modern black metal by making more rock-like metal music with close to no intricacy and classical touches. In the more evolutionary advanced curve of the black metal movement, Neraines expands from their classic melodic black metal debut to make rhythmically Phantom-inspired music with a more sublime interpretation of the classical atonal lineage of black metal.

Their sophomore release, the masterpiece Yggdrasil, sees the band forsaking its initial Phantom influences to forge its own path based on atmospheric interplay between phrasal riffs that progress linearly, as with Burzum, as each composition unfolds brilliantly into an epic climax. The challenge to this form of music is that it requires a constant intensity of thematic development - absent from most modern black metal, but here present in spades - in the artistic interpretation of black metal's romanticist melodrama, usually done via the presence of great and atonal but wistfully harmonious themes.

Perhaps the best black metal album from the post-2010 era. Yggdrasil is a must-own.

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