EREB ALTOR, is a Pagan/Viking/Black Metal band from Sweden. Most of their songs include themes such as depression, nature, fantasy, and Norse mythology. They actually borrowed their name from a supplement to a Swedish fantasy role playing game. Hammerheart Records just released "Nattramn" for them. Formed in 2003, this is their lucky thirteenth album.

This band plays a lot of festivals, small and large. In 2017, they were on at Wacken Open Air, while also playing Hellfest during that time as well. They got to have another busy Summer this year, finally being able to tour again across Europe at several festivals in 2022.

Starting out very ominously, "The Son of Vindsvair," is only spooky, nothing heavy here. It is just setting the mood and doing it well.  It is only a short intro. The second song starts but, it is not doing it for me, at all.  I won't even mention it here. The best part was the end and the acoustic guitar carrying us out.

"Nattramn," teases me in the beginning, I'm thinking we are about to get down to business and then a brief pause.... Finally, we kick it in to gear and start driving things home, taking us to a better place. A darker place, but the reason we are here. The vocals finally show up. The drums, guitars, everyone made it to the party on this one. Halfway in, I have hope for the second half. Thankfully, I'm expecting good things again like I was when I started listening.

More acoustic work will hypnotize you through the first half of the next. It slowly evolves into something slightly faster but I'm looking forward to something different again. Luckily, I soon get it.  A unique start to "Dark Waters," has my ears perked back up. I'm not sure where a nine-minute song came from, but it has a little bit of everything going on, more like you would expect from a band of this caliber. It probably could have been broken in to 3 songs. It's almost like it has three chapters, with three standalone parts, all different than the last.  Whatever though, it worked.

I finally get some Viking vibes in the end, though anticlimactic. This album is a little slow for my taste.  I like a little more stimulation in my Metal but for those that like more of a somber, dark mood, this one would be good for a chill evening in a bean bag under the black light.