Welcome to Hel

Ager Sonus brings us another grandiose epic of atmospheric soundscape, this time, taking us to the mythical frozen realm of Niflheim. Showing a penchant for the nexus between the concepts of the mythical and the mystic, composer Thomas Langewehr paints a frost-capped land of dread and danger, beginning with a cadenced approach of tribal drums, and slowly introducing more elements into the tracks all to ease the listener into the plane of the Viking. It is a concept album of the concept of the chilled, forlorn world of the dead in Norse mythology, and I must say this album exudes every element of the senses it evokes.

Low vocal pads  is an artistic flourish for which Ager Sonus is known, and the pads within this album are a layered bed to help carry the horns and throat singing interspersed throughout; droning horns give the feeling of the alien-yet-familiar feel to this world, yet the underlying drones never relieve the sense of danger lurking around every turn - this is a realm ruled by the goddess, Hel, after all. The music truly gives one of the best senses of what the world of Niflheim feels like. I already mentioned the throat singing, but when mixed with the tribal drums and solo woodwind melodies, the music fills out the glacial spaces of the frost-bitten atmosphere, giving the tracks a slow, methodical movement, a languid wide-angle view of the snow-covered landscape. 

The album description recalls the year 800 AD, an era of conquest, conflict and war, and of perhaps the last battle of a Norseman, who awakens to find himself in the clutches of his gods, and sent to his eternal resting place, on the frozen planes of Niflheim. Ager Sonus only gets better and more focused with each new album, and this is certainly a tale to appeal to those of us who prefer the colder climes. Winter is approaching, and this is one of the best albums to evoke the chilled feelings of frozen plains and ice-capped mountains. Niflheim is available in digital and CD Digipak on the Cryo Chamber bandcamp page.