Style: Atmospheric black metal with a tinge of folk
Primary Emotions/Themes: Facing the trials and tribulations of a journey through a fallen empire overtaken by nature.
Thoughts: Sojourner's debut album is a battle of opposing forces. On one end you have excellent compositions and a compelling use of folk instrumentation. On the other end you have the band fighting off generic song structures and predictable progressions.
The songs on Empires of Ash are long and involved. They often go through multiple phases before they come to their ultimate conclusion. During their playtime they ebb and flow, sometimes quiet, other times explosive in their delivery. The one consistent thing throughout it all is the commitment to an epic atmosphere and the continual use of folk instrumentation alongside the metal.
When things combine well - which they often do - the music takes on a larger than life quality. It's easy to close my eyes and picture great mountain ranges and ruined fortresses as I transverse these once great Empires of Ash. The songs are usually well paced and never overwhelm me with all the things going on, everything is easy to follow and it all flows nicely... maybe a bit too nicely.
This is where the one and only knock I have on this album comes into play. Everything feels like a formula, everything is too clean, too polished and ultimately too predictable. However you want to put it, the band lacks creativity and originality in the songwriting department. This isn't always a bad thing, and it certainly isn't here - but I always have the sense that I've heard this album before scattered throughout the folk black metal realm.
Despite this - despite the fact that I've heard this all before - when the album plays it's hard for me to turn it off. The combination of the heavy atmosphere, the dynamics of the music (though these seem to have been compressed somewhat), and it's ability to completely envelop me. It's way better than it should be. It's like a comfort food, it may not be the best for me - but god dammit - it makes me feel like I'm at home.
When I originally picked this up it was because of the cover. It matched the title so incredibly well I knew I would enjoy the music. I was right. It may not be the best at what it does, it may not be the most original, but dammit I like this stuff. Especially in the softer moments with female vocals and synths... that stuff hits me hard. Sometimes not everything in the collection needs to be incredible... sometimes you need something that makes you feel like you're home.
Written March 21st 2024
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