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Freja – Tides

freja – tides

Info

Freja are one of those bands that when you first get a glance of what genre they are from other sources, see the members, take in the album art or name layout, you think you know what to expect, but when you actually hear it, it surpasses that expectation. A duo from the Netherlands, this ‘Atmospheric Black Metal’ band started in 2019 and in 2022 put out their full length debut entitled ‘Tides.’ Since a lot consider them Atmospheric Black Metal, there are a lot of expectations, such as lush soundscapes, harsh vocals, a bit of a wintery or folk vibe to the music, and of course a bit of epic wondrousness. Freja does take those expectations and includes them in the music, but do it in the non-conventional way by including other sub genres on top of that. There’s Melodeath, Gothic, tinges of Folk/ Viking Metal in there and it all just plays cohesively so well. Right from the start with ‘Our Chosen Path’ one gets the thunderous Black Metal vein of pulsing riffs and drums that come off as some of the faster work from like likes of a band like Marduk, but with the vocal arrangements with deeper snarls and growls, the vocal patterns are more Melodeath, almost Doom laden, especially when the guitars slow down. W.D. does the deeper harsh vocals with some backing cleans and C. the cleaner, more ethereal ones which add the Gothic Doom quality of a Draconian album, on top of the dual guitar and bass work they share. And they even layer their vocals which really brings the atmosphere together. Usually in to Atmospheric Black Metal vein, or any dual vocal approach, the typical expectation is to have then trade off, but together there’s a risk of one overtaking the other. Freja do a great job by production standards and songwriting not to let that happen. Even though the music is harsh, they do their best to make sure the ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Black Metal’ stay balanced. Doomier elements come to play even on a distorted thunder cracker like ‘Scattered Shields’ which is most certainly not really Black Metal, but again, Freja tote the line by keeping a bit of a Doom/ Melodeath guitar style in the vein of Duskmourn and adding in higher pitched shrieked vocals to keep the song Black Metal tinged as best they can. They do not throw any unacceptable curveballs in, despite the mystery of the monikers the band members choose to go with, like so many solo artists in the Black and Death metal realm tend to do just to make things interesting or draw attention.

There are some tracks that do fall in the ‘typical Atmospheric Black Metal’ category such as ‘Cataclysm.’ The wintery sound, the utter harshness of the vocals, even when clean, and yet the backing melodies make this the best example of those who want to hear the genre in its more recognizable form. But even after this the band changes things up with a 180 turn with ‘Of Those Stricken by Fate,’ which is probably the dividing track on the album. Purists will hate it for its slow, acoustic folk approach and Dead Can Dance meets Trees of Eternity ethereal quality in vocals, but again it just adds fuel to show Freja will not stay pigeonholed to one genre and are trying to add as much as possible in their album for listeners to enjoy. Because here even the ‘New Age music’ lovers will find this appealing even if they dislike all the other tracks for their ‘abrasive qualities’. Again, for purists don’t worry the album ends on a solid Atmospheric Black Metal note, a 9 minute epic that is worth hearing for those who like their Black Metal melodic but still harsh with limited clean sections. And even with the songwriting it just has these sections that build and build with no vocals and between the guitars and drums it is just a good headbang session in an easy going manner as the song closes out with the last few minutes.

‘Tides’ shows promise, progression, and a fine example of a band who tries to load as much as they can into an album but not too much and done in a clean manner. Nothing feels out of place here. The vocal arrangements flow effortlessly with the songwriting for the instruments and while this is more than just an ‘Atmospheric Black Metal’ album, it doesn’t feel like they used any filler or out of place intro or outro or anything to try to something different and just end up falling on their face in the process. Fans of both the hard and softer sides of the Black Metal genre from what has come up in the last 10 years will appreciate what Freja offers from just 2 people, and hopefully they will keep their multi angled approach up on future work but continue to vary things here and there rather than fall into a predictable rut. This is not really an album for people with a one set track on how a genre should sound, but for those who want to hear something that is familiar and yet fresh at the same time when they feel they’ve heard a bit of the same ol’ thing after about 3 albums.

Freja

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