This variety gives The Flight of Sleipnir their unique character and for the most part works very well, though the acoustic sections sometimes drag and could have used more rhythmic variation. “Sidereal Course” and “Gullveig” are heaviest on the psychedelic elements, melodically drifting towards Pink Floyd or even The Beatles territory, while closer “Beacon in Black Horizon” eschews quiet segments almost entirely, instead building around an epic, slow doom riff that wouldn’t be out of place on an early Cathedral album. This combination of moods and styles is apparent on all of the album’s seven tracks, and naturally the songs are rather long to allow the expression of the various elements within each – a change in approach from Saga, which was made up of shorter songs. Opener “Headwinds” starts inauspiciously with one of the less captivating acoustic ramblings, but eventually builds to a magnificent head as the overdriven guitars enter with a most triumphant doom riff, pushing forward to an emotionally driven finale. The screamed vocals are powerful, while the clean singing is suitably soft and trippy, and the meandering, while occasionally problematic, is generally kept interesting enough. The Flight of Sleipnir fortunately don’t succumb to these problems.
They’ve improved on recent albums, but I can’t help but cringe on hearing The Mantle or Pale Folklore, despite some wonderful moments. Their compositions are naïve (not endearingly), the vocals annoy me, and they meander too much for their own good. Frankly though, I’ve never got the hype around Agalloch. The Flight of Sleipnir add some psychedelic elements and generally aren’t so despondent, but their overall approach is quite similar. Most of Agalloch’s elements are present – winding acoustic passages, folk sensibility, mildly mournful riffs, and buckets of atmosphere. Though based in Colorado, The Flight of Sleipnir follow the path of figuratively every folk metal band ever and take inspiration from Scandinavian folklore yet both aesthetically (just look at that gorgeous album cover!) and sonically they have managed to distinguish themselves from the hordes of other Viking worshippers.įor the unenlightened, I’d say it’s fair to summarize The Flight of Sleipnir’s sound as a stoner/doom version of Agalloch. Since their formation in 2007, they have produced a steady stream of albums, with last year’s Saga being their best effort so far. I was only quite recently introduced to The Flight of Sleipnir.
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