Ereb Altor – Gastrike

Swedish Ereb Altor‘s third album called “Gastrike” caught my attention by the first hearing. It’s a mix of doom death metal with some Viking elements. I was wondering if that mix would fit well and the result is not bad at all. Ereb Altor made it sound great and also achieved to make guys like me that are not into that style actually like it in the end.

The opening track of  “Gastrike” called “The Gathering of Witches” sound like the old Bathory to me mixed with the old school black metal sound like the early Darkthrone, having a dark feeling in the song and creating an atmosphere with the keyboards. That song represents properly “Gastrike” being slow in the beginning and becoming fast with blast beats after. A song that all should listen from “Gastrike” is “I Djupet sa svart” having a fast beat and backing orchestral vocals making you listen to again and again.

One thing that I liked in this album is that every single song is different and has it own personality. In the third song of the album I was wondering why was that happening but then I got what Ereb Altor wanted to do with that record.The production of “Gastrike” is not the best and clearest one but I believe that this happened on purpose because it suits better with the whole feeling created by the band in this album. In the beginning I thought that Ereb Altor would be a boring Viking metal band but they really got me wrong with this release.

“Gastrike” is a really good release overall with compositions that can travel you to the Ereb Altor’s world and it can make a lot of people to look in that music style in another prospect. I wish that they continue produce works like this one.