### Koldbrann: Vertigo

#### 13/03/13 || Smalley

Koldbrann are black metal, and even though that isn’t really one of my “specialty” sub-genres, I still enjoy a few good examples of it; prob is, I think even true BM fanatics would agree with me that the majority of “Vertigo” is rather tepid material. Not to imply it’s the most incompetent BM I’ve ever stubbed, but while their tempos vary, a lot of the basic material stays pretty much the same level of safe, with some predictable nods to their influences, but without much of anything memorable when they try doing their own thing… because that thing doesn’t have much passion for creating something truly original, or something that really feels alive on the whole. A few decent performances, decently intelligent song structures, and the occasional solid section may keep us from getting bored, but this is ultimately just another underground BM release that will come and go without leaving much of an impact…

…that is, until we get near the end of the record, as the last 5-out-of-11 tracks or so actually have some catchier, somewhat more intense, slightly experimental-ish songwriting in ‘em, with some weird atmospheres and sound effects. Still not great material, but an improvement, at least, so I’ll up my final score here half a point for those cuts. Still, I can’t score this one too high, considering Koldbranncereal made us wait through all that boring stuff before we could get at the good bits later on (but that’s what he said, right?).

7/10: Ultimately not bad, but go watch the Hitchcock if you want a truly consistent “Vertigo”.