Iotunn - Kinship

Angry Metal Guy 80

When Jón Aldará does something, we pay attention. Between Barren Earth, Hamferð and Iotunn, the Faroese friend of the blog has been involved in banger after banger after banger the last few years with no signs of slowing down. Iotunn’s Access All Worlds was my well-deserved Album of the Year in 2021 and reached third place in the aggregate list, so expectations for Kinship are through the stratosphere. Not content to repeat the same trick twice, however, the theme has shifted from the expanse of space to the expanse of the soul, to human connection and their dissolution at life’s end. But does Kinship shift into a slump or does Iotunn remain stellar in the absence of the stars?

I’ll admit I was hesitant looking at the almost 70-minute running time. Access All Worlds was plump; Kinship was looking positively girthy. But by and large the musicianship and composition quality are astronomical, surpassing its much-vaunted predecessor across most of its running time. Introductory epic “Kinship Elegiac” does start off a little unsure, but it finds its footing as it unfurls into a sumptuous banquet of majestic progressive death. By the time it arrives at its conclusion, a bombastic yet anguished reprise of the song’s opening, it’s hard to believe 14 minutes have passed. This time-dilating effect is present throughout Kinship. Every track feels like an exhilarating adventure in its own right, very different yet a vital part of the whole, and none of them feel anywhere near as long as they are because of their impeccable composition. This goes as much for barnstormers like Song of the Year candidate “Earth to Sky” as it does for the blackened thrill-ride “Twilight” or the gorgeous introspective ballad “Iridescent Way.”

Kinship by IOTUNN

The musicianship of Iotunn’s members is stunning across the board. Drummer Bjørn Andersen has a knack for playing with minor variations between bars that keep the tracks lively, but he awes when pulling out all the stops for “The Coming End” or “Earth to Sky.” Of course, Aldará catches the ear immediately with his attention-grabbing baritone wail and crunchy growls, and he puts in a few of his best performances here, with the solemn majesty of “I Feel the Night” and the opener’s heartrending conclusion a few particular highlights. But the guitars are worth the admission price on their own, with a fantastic array of imaginative riffs, trills, and licks. In lesser hands, “Mistland” would not be so effortlessly grand, the subtle shifts in harmony creating a surge to the heart. We wouldn’t have the beautiful yet aggressive cascades through the chorus of “The Coming End,” nor its intelligent riffs that play with inversing ascending and descending scales, or the epic harmonic midsection. Not to mention the solos; I declared “Waves Below” to have the solo of the year last time, but half the tracks here could qualify to the same, such as the melodic rollercoaster leading up to the finale of “Kinship Elegiac” or the shimmering tremolos of “Mistland.”

If Kinship had stuck the landing, it’d be a shoo-in for my Album of the Year. Alas, “The Anguished Ethereal” draws a shrill contrast with all that precedes it. With too much repetition and a lack of life and energy, the 11-minute track is the only one that feels longer rather than shorter. It takes half its running time to develop into something interesting, and just when it really seems to start taking flight, it ends in a dull fade-out. It’s a disappointing finale, and its drag makes the overall length of Kinship weigh heavier. Replacing the closer with the opener would be the fastest way to make a great album into a nigh-perfect one. Even the production, Iotunn’s biggest prior stumbling block, has made strides, though there’s still room for improvement there. The master has a little more breathing room and the drums sound more natural, but the mix can still feel a little crowded at busier times, and the bass is buried altogether.

The stumble on the finish may have cost Iotunn the crown, but how well Kinship holds up in spite of it is a testament to the band’s peerless songwriting and craftsmanship. It combines a deeply compelling sense of melody with fluid, progressive songwriting and an overwhelming sense of grandeur that nonetheless evades pretentiousness. The thought that there may be a Iotunn album in the future that is as brilliant as Kinship’s first hour with even better production does moisten my loins, but the present is pretty fucking great as it is.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: iotunn.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/iotunn
Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024

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