EP Review: On The Shoulders Of Gods by Vikvanir (Self Released)

Australian black metal project, Vikvanir, will release their new EP titled On The Shoulders Of Gods on October 22nd.

Born from pandemic isolation during 2021, Vikvanir is the black metal project of Zachary Carlsson, an Australian musician, vocalist and composer. First conceptualised in 2018, the last few years brought with them, amongst many other things, the free time to bring this project into existence. Within the realm of black metal, Vikvanir draws thematically from the aesthetics of epic fantasy and Norse mythology (yet never referencing the latter directly), with the music crafted to serve as the vessel for these ideas to be borne upon. Other musical influences also seep through the composition, with nods to doom, death, progressive and Viking metal all taking part in creating a diverse soundscape of metal.

On The Shoulders Of Gods is a five track EP.  With black metal as the basis, the recording strives to build upon that musical foundation through the incorporation of different influences, with doom, death and progressive metal making their marks across each individual song in a way that allows them to stand out from the pack, yet not straying too far of left field as to remain a consistent body of work.

The album cover, a striking piece from the late wonderful Mariusz Lewandowski (RIP), features a colossal being seemingly composed of lightning holding aloft a burning stone city in the sky, with a lone figure set amongst a stormy sea watching from below.

Alongside Zachary, classical strings were provided by Elise Carpio.

We get underway with Seaborne Monstrosity. A sombre melody draws your attention in and holds it as the acoustic melody transitions into electric. It stays melodic, stays dark in feeling, with a nice steady drum rhythm and plenty of interesting layers. As the vocals join in, the pace and aggression rise with punchy drums and a solid riff. The vocals are strong, dark and blackened though not so guttural that you can’t understand them reasonably clearly. The gutturals do come though, getting very deep and dirty but working very nicely within the overall song soundscape. The guitars, as well as playing out plenty of dark melody, occasionally have a doomier tone to them with plenty of drawn out and distorted notes. I adore the transition back into melody as well – it is so smooth.

Corpse-Strewn Path to the Citadel comes next, starting with a flurry of drums and guitars that presents the feeling of anarchy. As the lead guitars blaze out, it starts to settle into a strong rhythm, the repetitive and effective riff, with blazing leads over the top is a wonderful sound. Vocals are strong and the steady rhythm makes it a real headbanger of a track. Little jumps back into anarchy, then back to the steady rhythm is a really effective style. A melodic slow down lulls you in though the crash of drums and guitars breaking it up offers a sense of foreboding. That pays off as the song jumps massively into the heaviness again with the deeper vocals and intense music, especially as we approach the end that comes with a devilish roar and demonic vocals at a tone even deeper and darker than before.

What Hell Do I Reside has a thick, murky sound. Its slower stomping groove is dark and intense. The thick bass lines reverberating through your skull sets the atmosphere while the vocals are delivered in a slow and filthy style. Plenty of time for variety though as the lead guitars hit some neat lines and solos, still keeping a darker tone, but just nicely layering the track. Navigating the Transept sees Vikvanir raise the pace and ferocity up a few notches. Starting off with a blistering drum display and speed riffs, the vocals are dark and desperate, the lead guitar plays out an interesting melody. It’s another cleverly layered and intriguing track, following the pattern of On the Shoulders of Gods in being really fucking cool.

The rhythmic section that kicks in just before the halfway point really gets your head moving too and there are plenty more treats in store over this heavily creative track. Punchy leads, mixes in vocal tones – this is one of my favourite tracks on a very strong release. We close out On the Shoulders of Gods with The Purging Fires. A track that as real sense of grandeur to its opening. It feels important and epic, and as it slows down, ready to erupt into black metal fury, you get a small moment to prepare yourself. It does erupt, off the back of a not quite seamless transition, into a flurry of drums, guitars and dark vocals. The blackened melody on the guitars sounds fantastic, the choir like vocals are such a treat and the drums, again, are really impressive. It’s a heavily layered, intelligent track.

This is probably my favourite and the most complete sounding track on an EP full of strong tracks.

Musically, Vikvanir features raw organic drums, dual waves of blackened guitars, buzzing analogue synthesizers and varied vocals, from emotional blackened howls and guttural growls to sombre choirs and chants. What that can’t possibly describe is the intense emotional feeling that comes off of the heavily layered and intricately composed songs. Its oppressive at times, but also all-encompassing making it very easy to become lost in the music and lose track of time and surroundings. As a debut, On the Shoulders of Gods is extremely strong but I think more seasoned bands would be over the moon with a similar level of output. The DIY style of the band does come through a bit in the production but, because of the genre of music, it only adds to the overall sound and feeling.

This is a top-quality release from a clearly very talented musician. It will be very interesting to see where Vikvanir go from here.

Grab a copy of Vikvanir’s On the Shoulders of Gods from their Bandcamp page, here.