If you read my review of Himinbjorg’s last release, The Golden Age, you’ll know that I thought the overall CD was lacking due to too much blasting, but the foundation was there for an excellent CD. Well, with Europa, Himinbjorg have stormed back with a very high quality release that rivals The Gathering Wilderness for the 2005 Pagan Metal throne. Where as the band was held back with the blast beat fetish on The Golden Age, they have now come full circle and have released a CD that is constantly evolving and challenging the listener.

It took me about 2 listens to get this CD but once I did I was constantly amazed by how much of an improvement Himinbjorg had made from a song writing perspective. The Golden Age was good, but Europa is so much more dynamic, epic, varied, and above all else satisfying. You can be as moody and epic as you want, but if the music isn’t presented and executed in a certain way then it’s all for not. The key here for Himinbjorg is being so dynamic with their delivery which is what makes the epicness and atmosphere so compelling. The vocals have really improved with better clean vocals (not as good as Primordial) and excellent mid-range growls, along with a couple of different styles that get dabbled with here and there. While there certainly still is a lot of blasting, the drumming is a lot more varied. This time around there is more double bass, as well as some slower patterns which really help build and maintain the atmosphere on the CD. Meanwhile the riffing is just as varied, involving traditional Black Metal, Pagan Black Metal, and even some minor Death Metal sensibilities. What I liked the best were the leads. Bar none, this CD has some of the best use of lead guitar I’ve heard on a Black Metal CD possibly ever. Rarely before have I heard the lead guitar add such a high degree of emotion to a Black Metal release.

The main point of this CD is how well-thought out everything is. I could maybe have done without all the interludes but once the actual songs get going you’re really taken for a ride that (to keep driving it home) is constantly evolving. Throwing out almost every song writing convention, Himinbjorg have improved to such a high degree that I wonder if it is even the same band that released The Golden Age. Taking the best elements of mid-period Bathory, Falkenbach, Primordial, Beserk, and Graveland, this is something that every Pagan Black Metal fan should check out, mainly because despite having similarities to the aforementioned bands, the overall feel and effect is unique to this CD. Whether it’s with atmospheric mid-paced sections, or aggressive double bass heavy moments, the band has really found their niche.

Naturally, the lyrics are excellent too. Dealing with Vikings, Pagan ideals, and so forth, all done in an intelligent manner it is hard not to listen to this CD over and over again. Though it doesn’t quite have the emotion and atmosphere that The Gathering Wilderness did (possibly the only fault of this CD) it does have good enough song writing that it almost makes up for it. The clean vocals still need a little work but it’s a small part in a much larger scheme. Once again, Europa is highly recommended to Pagan Black Metal fans and Viking Metal fans as well (although the folk influences aren’t as overt, except for some acoustic guitar). So far this is one of my top releases of the year and falls only a bit behind The Gathering Wilderness as far as overall quality. Check it out!