From Bandcamp, “Whether you feel the call for eternal war in Valhalla or prefer staying at home, listening to metal with vision and grandeur, GOLDEN CORE is here to guide you.” It’s a concept album based on the Norse worldview, where life in all its fragility arises in the eternal balance of opposites, between fire and ice, light and darkness, cold and heat, as a product of chaos and chance. Life and world order can only exist and maintained in the balance between these enormous forces of chaos, constantly fighting each other and constantly threatening our existence. The struggle is eternal and represents the past, present and future.

 The opening song is a mood-setter, with clouds, rain, piano, and strings that is fairly quiet, and leads into “Ginnungagap.” It’s an odd combination of harsh elements with some clean ones, but the way that they mix is muddy, meaning that it is hard to get a distinct sound from the band. The vocal harmonies are pretty decent, but there is a lot of dissonance. One thing is for sure, I need to keep listening. “Þorn af akri” is another short song with some background ambiance, furthering the mysterious nature of the album. Many of the tones are sweet, as are the vocals, and this is a surprising ride so far.

 “Kosmos brenner” begins with a healthy dose of harsh elements…a rigorous guitar riff, and drawn out vocal screams. In the battle of opposites, this song is more about the fire and darkness, and chaos. “De dødes hær” is another heavy and chaotic affair, with loud, distorted guitar that seem to fill the room. The more staccato parts are an interesting diversion of sound however, and at this point, this is an odd album. I almost get a Hardcore sound here. “Sól valtíva” is another short offering of mostly ambiance, and I continue to be intrigued at the album. “Tåkeheimen” is the final long song on the album. The heavy parts are tempered with some melody but feedback and noise are one of the central elements.

 “Sól varp sunnan” closes the album, with pretty strings and orchestration. Overall, I must conclude that this album, as interesting as it is, will be hard to many listeners to assimilate. They are all over the place in terms of a style, although many hardened elements rule. I am very interesting in learning more about the band however and listening to their next release, and appreciate their willingness to explore.