Ereb Altor was once started as the project of the guitarists of Swedish epic doom masters Isole, however, it’s much older than their main band and several of their ex-bands. And ‘project’ sounds a bit unimportant while it becomes plain obvious that this band is a product of their hearts. After lying on ice for many years that had only been predated by a time of not really getting started, they gave it another hit with a demo in 2005 and then finally this album in 2008. If you want to describe what this is all about, you actually need only one word, and that’s epic Bathory! Yes, it’s the albums “Hammerheart” and “Twilight of the Gods” which Ereb Altor have in their hearts and pay tribute to on this debut. And since no other band managed to substitute Bathory, it’s just right for Ereb Altor to do so. These guys created a blend of later Bathory and Candlemass, and the result is incredibly epic and majestic. The heavy guitars riffs crawl throughout the album like a drakkar navigating with effort in northern seas. The clean, epic, vocals, fit perfectly to the music. The whole can clearly be
compared to Nordland I & II from Bathory, but By Honour is by no means a simple copycat of those Viking Metal classics. Doom Metal is omnipresent in this release. The riffs are much slower, more viscous, than on most other Viking Metal albums and that makes the music of Ereb Altor unique. Thus, both fans of Viking and Doom Metal are likely to love this album.
1. Perennial
2. Awakening
3. By Honour
4. Winter Wonderland
5. Dark Nymph
6. Wizard
7. Ereb Altor
