Evoken - Atra Mors

I am enjoying Evoken more and more with each album they put out. I have always liked how they can find a perfect balance between being crushingly heavy and being eerily melodic whilst adding more atmosphere through their synths. 'Atra Mors' continues the trend, but I am more won over this time around.

As you make your slow walk to the fields of the dead, let those eerie melodic riffs guide you along the way. The synths become the thick fog that blankets over the fields and shields your eyes as you scamper along. The crash of the cymbals is your feet stomping into the thick muddy ground. As the riffs begin to crush and feel deep, it is the black clouds that have gathered and brings on the storm. A storm so strong that it will make the mud even thicker and heavier and your walk will become painful and tiring as your feet begin to get stuck.

There are some rumbling moments on this album. This storm you encounter on your journey may be your last. Moments in songs like 'Atra Mors' or 'Grim Eloquence', the drumming runs along and you feel every kick. Even the snare and toms feel massive. A huge thud. The thunder from the black clouds that storm over these muddy fields. But when they are not playing the part of the thunder, they feel ritualistic like when they play along with those eerie melodies.

The storm only becomes more fierce thanks to the dark, deep bellowing vocals that sit in those dark clouds. They become more harsh as the rain gets heavier and rips through the fog. The spoken words that appear may be the voices in your head as you wonder if you can pick yourself up as you can't withstand the storm floods you and it is too difficult and tiring to walk through the mud. You may not get to say your final goodbyes.

From all the chaos you have encountered, the album finds its transition into sorrowful paths. The moments where the lead work draws out plays that part well. The synths add to the feeling also. The subtle chimes that stretch out introduce the hunched hooded figures that grace the album cover. The evil that has lurked throughout the album may have just arrived with these guys. But as the heavy riffs collide with the eerie melodies and subtle chime in a song like 'Into Aphotic Devastation', it now becomes clear...

The hooded figures are not here to cast death on you, they are here to pick you up from the muddy ground, and slowly carry you to the fields of the dead so you can mourn and say your final goodbyes to those lost like you intended. And that is the overall impression I get from listening 'Atra Mors'. It feels dark, it leans towards chaos and there is evil lurking but once fully emerged, it is really cold and senses deep pain. As the instruments can find balance in the way they are played, so to are the feelings presented here.  

Ikil