The Black Northern Ritual is the third full length album from Norwegian black metallers Posthum, following on from 2012’s release Lights Out, but it doesn’t quite reach the heights the band are capable of.
The first thing that grabs your attention about The Black Northern Ritual is the vocals, which are quite weak and unsubstantial. They sound almost forced at times and it means that the songs as a whole don’t quite pack a tremendous punch. It’s a shame because the instrumentation is largely excellent and a particular highlight of the album is the title track. There’s this great innate darkness to the guitars which gives the track an all-round ‘grim’ feel and the energy behind the drums especially is something to behold.
Another great inclusion is the track Disappearing Sun and on this track, the vocals fit a lot better with the general style of the track and everything flows a lot better as a result, which is great to hear.
As a whole, The Black Northern Ritual is a pretty good album, but if you’re looking for something a little more substantial then you’re probably better off looking elsewhere.
6/10
