Elffor - Heriotz Sustraiak (2012)

It was completely random that I happened to come across Elffor and the debut album, 'Into the Dark Forest' sometime in 2000. Back in those days this unique soul, whom hails from the Basque Country in Northeastern Spain captured my attention in a special way, and the music Eöl creates with Elffor has been amongst my favorites ever since. With each subsequent release being limited to just 500 copies, obtaining the music required swift action, even more so with this release since its limited to just 333 copies! It is however for good reason, this self-released album comes housed in a deluxe gorgeous digibook, which features fantastic artwork (as usual) as well as all the lyrics and more photos and art within. Pricey, yes, but certainly worth it.

'Heriotz Sustraiak' is his latest effort and its also his first release to feature lyrics wrote entirely in his native language, Euskara, which is the ancestral language of the Basque people. As far as the music is concerned, initially the project was within medieval ambient genre, but by the time of the second album, 'Son of the Shades,' Summoning seemed like a logical influence, though with more emphasis on Eöl's cultural roots, rather than relying entirely on the middle ages as inspiration. As the years would pass, three more albums would be released, although with each one more and more black metal characteristics would creep into the mix, but the medieval ambient, folkloristic and immense atmospheres would remain.

Here on 'Heriotz Sustraiak' Eöl gives us what I believe to be the strongest of the more blackened releases, and although only four songs are included the album still runs for almost fifty minutes. As I already mentioned, Eöl's compositions are immense and rich with atmosphere, sometimes varying between complete darkness, to total pandemonium as well moments of somber reflection, beauty and loss seem all a part of his work.

'Barrumbe Beltza' opens with an almost Dead Can Dance-ish vibe -- soaring female vocals (performed by Hildr Valkyrie), amongst light synths that create a mental image of gliding above and around misty mountains. Eventually militant percussion and an epic melody takes the forefront, invoking images of majesty and wonder when around the five minute mark the metal elements appear and the song continues along, varying in tempos and vibe, acoustic guitars appearing here and there too, and remaining brilliant throughout its twelve minute duration. 'Hildakoen Basoetan' is a bit more violent and fast in its delivery, featuring speedy tremolo picked riffs and pummeling drums, the synths play a less prominent role, but the cleanly sung male vocals are a welcomed edition to this otherwise different song. 'Heriotz Sustraiak' is a lengthy, but beautiful instrumental that bares a lot of resemblance to the opening song, while 'Kateek Loturik...' kicks off with a mournful synth melody for the first few minutes before diving into more turbulent territory and back again, solidifying itself as one of my favs on this album.

'Heriotz Sustraiak' didn't immediately catch me as being brilliant, but when I listened to each song more closely the individual moments really stuck out and grew within me. Therefore, I'd certainly act quickly if what I've said above sounds interesting, because they could all be gone very soon.