Sagor Som Leder Mot Slutet – II
For a while now I have been pondering about an article named ‘How to improve your chances of getting your album reviewed on Merchants Of Air’, or something like that. I never got to write it, probably because there is absolutely no fixed method. Sometimes I know the band members in person, which might help but even then. I guess it’s purely by chance, like this album I’m trying to review here.
Yes, they sent me this album a few weeks ago and yes, their email looked interesting. But somehow it slipped my mind, like about 3000 other albums. However, today the band posted the album in a facebook group and without even remembering the earlier mentioned email, I asked my wife to play it. So this review happened purely by chance and there is actually one damn good reason for that: this is a damn good album. Opener ‘Avfärd’ already told me that. It also told me that this could be the next Spoiwo. With that I mean: a next Merchants Of Air discovery that ends up being a highlight of whatever festival or venue I will see them in the near future. Let’s hope these predictions come true. I’ve been called ‘the Nostradamus of the alternative music industry’ so who knows.
The band name translates as ‘Stories That Lead Towards the End’. I thought you’d like to know that. They released their debut in 2016 and now return with the follow-up. That follow up translates as ‘2’, but I’m sure you already guessed that. It comes with beautiful cover art too, a bit on the dark side maybe but that only makes it cover the load better. It is mixed and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (PG Lost, Alcest, Cult of Luna, etc) and recorded at Studio Gröndahl together with David Castillo (Katatonia, Amorphis…). You can download it or purchase it on vinyl and CD. There, those are the technicalities, all extremely professional, which obviously is a good thing. On to the music.
I already mentioned opener ‘Avfärd’ as a defining track. It’s mostly uptempo and a pleasure to listen to, just like some of my favorites from God Is An Astronaut or Caspian. So in that aspect, we’re clearly in stirring in the post rock casserole. I was immediately sold, tapping my feet and shaking my head. I think I also danced a little, which would probably have looked rather awkward but hey, that’s what good music does, right? ‘Ovisshet’ seems to follow the opener’s example, another splendid post rock tune. But there is a lot more going on than post rock, believe me.
Where the opener was brilliant, ‘Storm’ completely blew me away. Here other bands came to mind, including Telepathy. Suddenly there were blastbeats, fast guitars and an immersive black metal atmosphere, something many black metal bands don’t even succeed in these days. It was here when I decided that this review needed to happen. It’s becoming a long one too, and we’re not done praising the hell out of this. We have post rock, black metal, pieces of psychedelic rock so why not add some ambient as well, right? Well, they did this beautifully in the short but breathtaking ‘Fyr’, a delightful breather.
There are two more tracks to go but I am going to leave the joy of discovering them to you, dear reader. In my humble opinion, Sagor Som Leder Mot Slutet have everything to make it to the big leagues in the ever widening post rock scene, except maybe the band name which non-Scandinavians will probably never pronounce or write correctly. Then again, if everything about an album is so mesmerizing as this, they can call themselves ‘Blueberry Blubberbuttface’ for all I care. I think my message is clear here. Maybe for the slow ones among you: buy this album!!!