### Kroda: Schwarzpfad

#### 30/08/11 || Smalley

This is my first time trying to write a stub for a full-length, but color me pleasantly surprised here, as Kroda is a good deal more competent than the usual label-sent shit; playing an epic, intense, somewhat-raw mixture of black and folk metal with a LOT of obvious influences. The compelling riffage, whether it be slow or fast, reminds me of Emperor at times, “Pale Folklore”-era Agalloch at others, nature samples that again reminds me of Agalloch, ambient sections that remind me of some of Ulver’s later shit, beautiful acoustic interludes that (again) remind me of Ulver (the early stuff this time), and ethereal synth work/choral vocals that kinda remind me of Windir during their more melodic moments. I even get a bit of a Brann Dailor-groove vibe from their drummer at times (though Kroda’s skins-man isn’t on Brannflakes’ level), a “Battery”-esque Spanish guitar intro on one song, and there were some other moments that I couldn’t quite place, but still knew I’d heard some very similar moments on older albums.

But to be certain, while this may be mostly just a grab-bag of influences lifted off of other bands, Kroda’s bringing of them all together still gives us an overall package different from any other album, the band still does a pretty good job of making them feel like they “fit” together, and the songwriting is compelling enough. Some of the songs do go on too long, a few song-sections don’t flow into each other, the vocals get mildly irritating at times, and the influences-blend here won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I still strongly advise against you just laying this one on the trash pile like so many other Stubs.

7.5/10: Give it a try!