After a lot of power and heavy metal releases this year, which a lot of them I thoroughly enjoyed, it was time for me to hear something more suitable to my black and death metal tastes. Dråpsnatt is the band that fell perfectly in place, and the reissue of their 2010 album Hymner till undergången is an atmospheric black metal album that emits a powerful atmosphere, but also takes on a more depressing style that rides along an emotional yet grim path.

Sounds of thunder and rain open the album with the song En ensam sol går ner until guitar riffs trundle forward while piano strides right along to the rhythm. The style of vocals was the first thing I took notice to. They were not immediately my favorite style, describing them mostly as an annoying shriek at times, but the more exposure I had to the album, the vocals became fitting and very enjoyable, especially instances of fantastic clean singing that takes place. Keyboards are stunningly grim, but cover many tracks with an extremely superb atmosphere especially in the simple riff pattern towards the end of the track Arvssynd, which displays a truly darkened and rigorous sound.

Dråpsnatt has a crafted a great deal of depressive and melancholic black metal in their sophomore album. One of the finest tracks on the album, Mannen i min spegel, begins with a ghostly sound, but contains some of the best clean vocals the album contains at the start of this grisly song. Somna In is more depressive than most tracks, and does it in the most excellent form which includes clean guitars with a somewhat jazzy and slow piano at times to top it all off. Following shortly after, acoustic guitars make a much needed appearance on the record with the track Ve Er, which at this point, the album is very surprising with its pronounced ability to reach far with many forms of emotion.

The eight minute masterpiece Gästen closes out the original album before the bonus track Juvret. The immediate screams and shrieking vocals cry far and wide, but slows down and becomes draped in sadness very quickly. The album does resemble some moments that sound along the lines of other atmospheric metal bands like Arcturus, or even sounding like some pre-symphonic Dimmu Borgir. However, Dråpsnatt feel unique in its own right. The finale is a rollercoaster of emotion, bewitched with grim sounds, but never forgetting to delve more into the deeper and darker state of music.

As the symphonic end to this finale fades and the passionate cries of the vocals are drowned out, the overall feeling after finishing this album is one that is hard to forget. For an atmospheric metal album, Dråpsnatt’s Hymner till undergången is one that should absolutely be heard.