Draugnim are earnest in their interpretation of blackened pagan metal. The seventh addition to their growing discography is rich in passion and carries onerous themes with titanic strength. On Vulturine a heavy atmosphere writhes with an optimistic zeal to loosen the foundation of depression that is often used unfairly to stigmatize the blackened sound, and where the somber intensity of musical themes function to lift the listener into a torpid frenzy, which in practice sounds dreamlike and crazy.
Yet these principles work for Draugnim. Vulturine isn’t a demanding album to listen to but it does implicate parts of it’s score for contemplation. With dry zeal these sections interlude like a ghostly smile on a faceless entity. Relinquishing their hold at a moderate pace and giving over to the powerful stomp of heavy rock drum patterns and applied gloss to the ambiance of ethereal keyboards, these guitar leads ignite the drive to further the almost inspirational qualities from the main themes presented and alleviating any maudlin from their initial scale.
Vulturine is a fundamentally atavistic record, and it wisely improves on techniques from the second wave of black metal, assimilating the Norwegian best into their own language and telling a grim and brutal story. Pioneered in the nineties and defined in the naughties Finlands’ Draugnim are playing with infernal metal on Vulturine.
8/10
