The German label already re-released Elffor’s first full-length titled «Into the Dark Forest… » and I already praised the virtues of Eöl’s black metal. This musician also active in Numen and Suffering Down already recorded and self-released four albums, «Son Of The Shades» being the second one. Elffor combine blend of atmospheric folk and raw black metal with elements of Mortiis debut works but remain pretty unique. As I wrote many years ago about «Son Of The Shades», ELFFOR’ sound reminds me of MORTIIS first works (« Fodt til a herske » or « Anden som gjorde oppror » or the most easy « The stargate »). This is thus keyboard based pieces of dark, medieval atmospheric music. The band includes elements (and instruments) of traditional Basque music to their both black and epic metal music and eventually a strong and original hybrid sound is created. « Son of the shades » is no typical ambient music as most of the themes displayed here don’t bore me to death (like the majority of medieval albums recorded today). This is quiet music, with varied themes and atmospheres….very ethereal but also showing enough depth to make it much more than just uninspired background music. The version released by Nothern Silence also features two bonus tracks («Hidden In The Nebular Landscapes» and «Endless Dark Flames») composed back in 2002 and recorded in 2007.
Georges

http://www.elffor.com

http://www.northern-silence.de

suffering@euskalnet.net