Iotunn – Kinship

Danish/Faroese metal band Iotunn are back with a follow up to their 2021 debut album ‘Access All Worlds.’ This new release entitled “Kinship” is another concept album, this time set in primaeval time. It concerns a member of a prehistoric tribe and the many issues and consequences surrounding life in those times and conditions. If the cover artwork by Saprophial (Hammers of Misfortune) is anything to go by, life looked very strange indeed. 

The musical style has changed, and bass player Eskil Rask had this to say; “Our shift to more atmospheric and organic songs has led me to discover new approaches to my instrument and in some areas to reinvent myself as a bass player.” The album was mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios in Denmark, known for his work with bands such as Arch Enemy, Katatonia, and The Black Dahlia Murder. 

Eight new songs make an agreeable total of around 68 minutes. Two long tracks bookend the start and finish taking up a large chunk of the time. The longest, entitled ‘Kinship Elegiac’ comes first and clocks in at just shy of 14 minutes. This gives them plenty of time to set the tone for the story to come. The goods laid out include gentle mournful sections, heavy majestic chord sequences, driving hypnotic riffs, powerful soaring vocals and lead guitar flourishes. 

Those characteristics are also true of ‘Mistland’ and ‘Twilight’ creating a heavy, vaguely gothic metal onslaught. Some of the riffs are quite infectious and here there be earworms. There’s also plenty of quieter softer parts as well to balance things out. 

Every band probably has a burning desire to write a classic song, one that they will be remembered for. Iotunn certainly have and with ‘I Feel the Night’ they hope they have achieved that. The combination of melodic verses, heavy choruses with a couple of guitar solos thrown in for good measure works well. Whether it stands out from the rest of the tracks remains to be seen, time will tell. 

 ‘The Coming End’ is still quite far from the end but keeps the pace upbeat with a catchy chugging riff. Following that, ‘Iridescent Way’ is the complete opposite and definitely the mellowest song on the album, and the only acoustic track. The classical guitar experience acquired by Jens Nicolai and Jesper Gräs features prominently in this gentle song. 

Things become more extreme in ‘Earth to Sky’, when vocalist Jón Aldará gives us his most aggressive side. Just as it is reaching its peak, it breaks down into a melodic twin guitar section from the brothers Gräs.  it acts as a bit of light and dark before the final push. 

That final push is 11:16 minutes long, so buckle up because drummer Bjørn Wind Andersen has a field day with this one. There is a totally different feel to ‘The Anguished Ethereal’, with a grandiose, doomy style embellished with a great guitar solo in the middle. Actually, it’s hard to pin this one down to a particular genre, there’s bits of black metal, death metal, progressive metal, gothic metal. You name it, if it ends in metal, it’s pretty much in there. Whatever, it is a magnificent finale to a very enjoyable album. 

Photo Credit – Nikolaj Bransholm

This is an album that you don’t necessarily need to concentrate on too much, it is enjoyable as a casual listen. But if you do focus on the finer points, you will find there’s much more on offer. This is a band that have a passion for what they write and seem to strive to produce something different. It’s still relatively early days in their career and there is lots of potential for evolution. Hopefully they have a hunger for it, and we will see another release before too long. 

Track-list: 

1. Kinship Elegiac
2. Mistland
3. Twilight
4. I Feel the Night
5. The Coming End
6. Iridescent Way
7. Earth to Sky
8. The Anquished Ethereal