Skagos - Ást (2009)

Hailing from Northern Cascadia (AKA Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada), Skagos is a two person collective of Isaac Symonds & Ray Hawes who formed back in 2007 and in the past three years have released one demo, one EP, three split releases and this their debut album, 'Ást' was released in both cassette & CD format in 2009.

The band’s name is derived from author George R. R. Martin’s, 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series of fantasy novels, which I've now regrettably never read, but it definitely intrigues me to do so after discovering this band several months ago.

More importantly though Skagos is a black metal which shows characteristics from the early works of bands like Ulver, Wyrd, Satyricon and Agalloch, however if I had to compare the band to anyone I would say they are very close to sounding like Maine, USA band, Falls of Rauros. So, if you are at all familiar with those bands then you'll already have a decent idea as to what Skagos sounds like, but if not you can expect to hear acoustic/folk influenced black metal music on Ást with long song times, somewhat raw production, loads of atmosphere, progressive tendencies, lyrics about nature and primitive ways of life and a monochrome booklet/cover with various nature photos.

The interesting thing about this recording is that its raw production makes the whole thing sound very organic and somehow as you listen you can imagine the members playing these songs while out in the middle of the British Columbia forests. The guitars tend to veer between being melodic and full of character to more discordant paths as expected in black metal music, but never are they boring or poorly performed. In fact those guitars in the first few minutes of, 'A Night That Ends, As All Nights End, When The Sun Rises' is one of the best moments ever in this particular sub-genre of black metal. As expected the acoustic parts spread out through this recording are utterly brilliant too.

The vocals hold a truly venomous hate filled tone to them and while they are typical sounding they are by no means poorly performed. Some cleanly sung parts also make their appearance on, 'Calignosity' and while they are not awful they remind me of Tom Yorke from Radiohead and I'd rather not be reminded of that band, ever. The drums too are unpolished, but it adds to that natural organic feeling I mentioned earlier and while the drums tend to be played fast with plenty of cymbal crashes and drum roll usage they also slow up here and there when the music demands it. The bass guitar is unfortunately no where to be found, but this sort of music hardly needs it since everything else provides a very atmospheric and engaging listening experience.

At fifty five minutes in length and just six songs total, Ást is a truly great record, though some people will tell you it's pretty much the greatest record ever conceived, yet I'm still not completely convinced on those claims. Nevertheless, I enjoy Skagos and I'll most certainly be purchasing their next record as well as going back and picking up those split releases soon.