Let’s commune with Nytt Land.
Created ten years ago by shaman couple Natasha « Baba Yaga » and Anatoly Pakhalenko on the Siberian plains, the band announces the release of Torem, its fourth album, on Napalm Records.
Olenmet opens the album with the unmistakable sound of a campfire in the wilderness, beside which Natasha begins to sing, accompanied by some steady percussion, leading us to Nord, where dark sounds invade. Folk instruments mingle with the different voices, creating a hypnotic, rhythmic sound that easily transports our fascinated spirit to a short, crystalline break, before the ritual resumes with melancholic tones, then Risu Raknar develops a mysterious atmosphere before bringing its mystical roots back to life. Haunting clean vocals add a further shade to this jerky, highly intriguing track, which is followed by Johem Ar, a rather quiet track at first, but which returns to the festive mood where voices and choirs dance in harmony to the upbeat rhythm. The composition is relatively short, in contrast to Manito and its hazy approach, which lets a few haunting vocal parts wander through its darkness before joining Huginn ok Muninn, a livelier track the band had already unveiled. The rhythm perfectly accommodates the instruments that give it its mysterious, mystical tones, as does Rise of Midgard, which continues with similar patterns, letting percussion set the tone while the two vocalists naturally respond to each other. Torem, the eponymous track, offers us a brief moment to catch our breath before opening the dance by combining its mysterious tones with a driving rhythm punctuated by pauses before letting us return to the campfire on Iavel, the last composition, and its strange but pleasant sounds, while a wind instrument accompanies us to the end of the album.
Nytt Land remains anchored in its dark Pagan roots, offering a mix that is both expected and surprising. The mysterious aura enveloping Torem is fascinating, allowing it to develop his heady ritualistic sounds in a natural way.
85/100