ODAL - Welten Mutter, LP (Stone & Sea)

Triumphant and tragic, Odal returns with its 5th album 'Welten Mutter'.
Honest and pure black metal at its poignant best, ripp(l)ing with a melodicism that's graceful and heartstrings-pulling but never overwrought. An eternal flame seems to burn over and under all here, as energy is not in short supply, but dynamics are never sacrificed in the process; the interplay between the longstanding duo of Taaken and A.D.D. is fluid and flawless, and conveys a very tangible urgency that makes each of these seven rousing hymns even more breathtaking.

Granted, while ODAL's melodicism here is much more on the melancholic side, there's a uniquely uplifting aspect to it. Perhaps that's due to the lyrical themes underpinning Welten Mutter: translating to "World's Mother" in English, they deal deeply with nature are dedicated to Nordic mythology, specifically with the creation of the world(s) on earth and for the gods. As such, Welten Mutter is arguably ODAL's most pagan-oriented album, but thankfully, their version of pagan black metal safely evades all the cliches usually associated with such an appellation.

At once authentically retro and uncompromisingly adventurous, Welten Mutter stands tall as ODAL's defining statement in a world too often fixated on the "new" and frequently too blurry about the past.

Tracklist:
1. ...um Ewiges zu schaffen
2. Hellwach schwelgend
3. Schattental
4. Der kalte Nächte Atem
5. Welten Mutter
6. Welten Geflecht
7. Erden Zeit