Norden is a one man black/Viking metal band from Poland and this is his second album.

This is a Bathory-influenced Viking metal album, (complete with Bathory cover song), that combines this with elements of black and pagan metal to produce a blackened, yet still authentic, take on the Bathory style of Viking metal.

The music is majestic and absorbing, with plenty of epic and anthemic moments strewn across the playing time. The songs are atmospheric and quite compelling. The quality of not only songwriting, but delivery too, is hard to argue with, and Z Popiołów i Krwi… hits all of the right notes that you would want for something like this. Easy to sink into, this is an album that I have enjoyed far more than I thought I would.

I like that this is a far more individual and charismatic release than you might expect too. The artist behind Norden knows his source material well, but the added black metal aspects of the music really allow this to sound like a independent work in its own right, rather than simply being Bathory-worship, which it so easily could have been without the updated blackened influences.

A recommended listen.