BROTTHOGG – Echoes of the Past
- Posted on 27-08-2019
So, after stressing out about packing for Midgardsblot(note that the festival ended several days ago, meaning I did not finish the review by the time I was hoping to), putting my guitar down, buying way more beer than I am actually going to need for the aforementioned festival(I was right about this), and other such relatable forms of procrastination, I will finally be sitting down and doing what I was supposed to do around a week ago, namely informing you – dear reader – about Brotthogg’s first full-length release, and why it might be a worthy addition to your collection.
Trondheim’s Brotthogg consists of multi-instrumentalist and (I assume) leading force Kristian Larsen Moen, alongside Chton vocalist Craig Furunes and vocalist Jonas Moen. We last heard from the fierce trinity back in 2017 with the release of their debut EP, The Last Traveller, which as an avid Vektor and Revocation fan quickly caught my eye. A release I was very pleased with, but which I must admit sadly was not given many spins after the initial week or so of complete obsession. So, let’s see how this highly technical blackened death ensemble are able to fare given a longer runtime.
Brotthogg, at its core, is essentially what you get if you cross technical death metal à la Revocation and Necrophagist with Norwegian symphonic black metal like Emperor and Old Man’s Child, only to let Yngwie Malmsteen play the solos, and it is every bit as entertaining as it sounds. Opening riff of The Summoning kicks the listener into a riff that could have been snagged from Vektor’s 2011 album Outer Isolation, then unfolding like a Revocation song with Ihsahn-esque vocals. The associations seem to run in a million different directions over the course of the sheer riff-soup(without the negative connotations) that this album is, making for an incredibly enjoyable listen. Just to namedrop more bands, the record also brings to mind the likes of Fleshmeadow, Obscura, the better end of Dimmu Borgir’s discography, and Vredehammer.
Most of the record just swirls by at a truly terrifying pace with several highlights, both riff-wise, solo-wise, and orchestration-wise sprinkled in for a flavourful 33-minute run-time(somewhat short for a full-length release). The record also happens to include one track from the band’s debut EP, namely its title track, The Last Traveler. This is definitely an album I would recommend for death and black metal fans alike, and especially fans of Old Man’s Child, Revocation, and Fleshmeadow. Truly a project with a lot of potential.