Viking metal... A niche genre popularized by the efforts of Bathory, Moonsorrow, and literally any other Nordic black metal band that wanted to get a little folky and LARP-y. Garde is a somewhat new band to keep the genre afloat with their "new" album "Harbinger of Revenge and War." I say "new" as this album has apparently been in the works since 2000. It's taken twenty-five years for Dan and Arjan to release this LP. I guess it makes sense when Dan's on vocals and Arjan is on literally every other instrument. Lengthy black metal compositions, revenge, and war obviously awaits in "Harbinger of Revenge and War."  

I've got my mead, my horns, and my battle axe. I'm also ready for the opening track, "A gathering of blood." Pleasant, folky guitars gently welcome you into the song, but fade as the metal begins. Strained but clean vocals are utilized, and the while the riffs remind me of black metal, the drumming does not. The clean singing delivers the paganistic themes typical to the genre, leaning more into lyrics than sound to convey their message. The song is slower; it's not your typical black metal with all of it's tremolo-picking and blast-beating glory. Initially, the vocals here were not what I was expecting at all. I was fully prepared for the shrieks and screams of normality, and hopefully some of it can appear down the road. Next up, "Marked by the God." Once again, the lore of the Vikings come alive with traditional strings, and a rough transition back into the bulk of the track. Speaking of bulk, most tracks are at least seven minutes song, with the closer being nine, and the shortest at four. The two sure know how to fill up the time, as I get ephemerally lost in the Viking vibes. I hear some harsher vocals in this track, but not enough to create an adequate balance of music and singing. The techniques used are actually pretty solid, and Dan can hold a note. "The cross of Donar" is up next. Donar is the Germanic god of thunder, so some interesting lyrical content comes into play. The mythological aspects give it all the greater Viking tinge, and I appreciate it. The first solo rings out, too. Throughout the first three songs, there's choral elements, slow black metal riffage that feels like a boat rocking over waves, and varied types of singing I'm actually warming up to.

The shortest track follows around the same tempo as it's longer predecessors. "Berserkgangr" plays with a dirtier-sounding guitar tone, and it's a bit of a weak song, as it's just a shorter version of other tracks. If a lead single for this album were to be released, it would be this. The duality of the riffs and added acoustic ones is a quite a pleasant listen. Surprisingly, the song speeds up a little bit, just as I was getting back into the rocking-boat rhythm of their instruments. It's not weak, it's just weaker. The final song stretches things out for me a little bit, as it crosses the nine-and-a-half-minute-long mark. An epic indeed. "Fallen heroes" ventures into more segments with some more high-pitched efforts from Dan, and more solos and, well, everything from Arjan. The melodies are simple, but when repeated, are graspable. Overall, this portion of the project provided an increase in sound variety and musical virtuoso that fell short of the first songs.

Every song starts the same, they mostly follow the same pattern, and they end pretty similarly, too. Garde has made a great album that you can read mythology to, travel across the sea to, and fit your battle helmet to. Besides that, there's not a lot of other major "uses" for "Harbinger of Revenge and War." If this LP really took twenty-five years to conceive, I'm a little disappointed. If you listen to this album long enough, it'll wrap you up and take you on a nice journey - only if you have the patience for it.