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Nov 8, 20225 min read

Cronian - Erathems (2013)

Updated: Nov 22, 2022

FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…



On November 8, 2013, Cronian, the collaboration between Scandinavian Metal visionaries Andreas Hedlund (Vintersorg) and Øystein Brun (Borknagar), returned with their third full-length album Erathems; released via Season of Mist/Underground Activist, it was the bands first new record in over five years.



Background:

Working closely since 2000, Brun and Hedlund created Cronian in 2005, releasing Terra, and then Enterprise in 2008. With Erathems, the duo serves up cerebral Black Metal, dominated by Brun’s ever-morphing riffs and of course, the spectacular vocals of Hedlund. A meticulously arranged and orchestrated album from start-to-finish, 'Erathems' symphonic, melody-laden Metal is nothing short of exhilarating. Erathems is truly progressive, Avant-garde Heavy Metal art.



In an interview with Dead Rhetoric, Øystein G. Brun states;

“We simply did the album we wanted to do at this point in time. Personally, I regard this album as one of the most musically successful albums I have participated in, simple because we ended up very close to the actual goals we set forth for this album. For the first time, we managed to achieve a production that treats and project the material properly. Musically speaking, and from my point of view, the material on the new album doesn’t really differ that much from the previous albums in terms of being experimental or unconventional, but this time we managed to gather the loose ends to make a better and more dynamic expression. Cronian is definitely a fun and inspiring haven but by no means a safe haven. Not at all.”

Brun went on to say;

“…we started to play around with some new songs in early 2012, shortly after we finished the Urd album with Borknagar. The whole recording session for Urd was an amazing and inspiring session. We learned a lot. We did everything ourselves in our respective studios except for the mixing and mastering. So we had some sort of revelation in terms of our production skills. So we wrote, recorded and mixed a few songs to check if the Cronian spark was still there. And indeed it was. So we are talking fresh meat here…”

Critical Reception:

In a review for metal-observer.com, Shawn Miller wrote;

“Erathems is the third full length album from Cronian, which is the side project of Borknagar members Øystein G. Brun and Andreas Hedlund (better known as Vintersorg). Formed in 2005, the band serves as an outlet for ideas that the duo felt weren’t entirely fitting for their output in Borknagar; ideas that were more experimental in nature. The band’s first two albums, Terra and Enterprise, received mixed reviews: those who loved them referred to the band’s strong connections to the sounds of Borknagar and Vintersorg’s solo work and those who loathed the albums referred to similarities to the sounds of Borknagar and Vintersorg’s solo work. That was intentionally laid on a little thick, if you couldn’t tell: of course there are going to be similarities to their other output.
While Cronian’s music inherently shares many similarities to Borknagar, it’s the differences that give Erathems its charm. While you still get Vintersorg’s trademark clean vocals and snarled growls as well as tons of Brun’s melodic yet Blackened riffing, it’s taken through a more cinematic, atmospheric and progressive lens. Yes, Borknagar’s recent output does have a lot of progressive tendencies, but Cronian’s progressive side far exceeds what Borknagar has reached towards. There are full, lush keyboard soundscapes mixed with melodic guitar passages next to cold, Blackened riffs and blasting drums, but always with an air of spacey progressiveness. I actually feel like Erathems takes more cues from the Empiricism era of Borknagar than the previous two Cronian albums, but we’ll dig a little further into why. The previous two Cronian albums had a very icy and frostbitten feel to them, as if the arctic circle was reaching its cold grip through your speakers, while Erathems drops the hoar frost in favor of more cosmic, epic feel. Cold Wave Eruption starts off the album in fine form, with a riff that would pass on any of Borknagar’s early albums (The Archaic Course in particular) while the keys showcase a cinematic backdrop and Vintersorg twists between catchy clean vocalization and snarling growls.
Tracks like Blackwater Horizon and Ecocracy sound like they were cut from the same cloth as Empricism, as the overarching keyboard melodies merge with restrained guitar chords while Vintersorg belts out some fine vocal harmonies in his trademark avant-garde delivery. These tracks showcase not only the heavier side of Cronian, as there are some Blackened guitar riffs and high speed programmed drums, but it also showcases the pure catchiness of all of the elements combined. The riff during Ecocracy is especially catchy and showcases Brun’s ability to craft some solid, twisting riffs. It’s moments like this when the Borknagar-isms are most prevalent. I know, I know I keep referring Cronian’s sound to Borknagar, but you can’t really consider yourself a full fledged metal head if you’ve never listened to them. There are moments of utter quietude here, too. Take a track like Moments and Monuments for example, as it’s synthesized strings and airy keyboards take charge, without a guitar riff in sight. It’s a spacey, cinematic track wouldn’t sound out of place as movie soundtrack, as the only accent to the keys are Vintersorg’s clean vocals, which sound almost like an icy howl here. There’s enough varied tempos and time changes to keep things interesting. It doesn’t even get boring during the more quiet, melodic segments.
The drums, although programmed, are decent enough to not draw any complaints, but the music could be aided tremendously by placing a live drummer in the mix. I understand that this is Brun and Hedlund’s baby, but creative control doesn’t have to be sacrificed by using a session drummer. I could see the simplistic beat during the middle of Blackwater Horizon being improved substantial with a little flair in the drumming department. While Erathems really does sound like the continuation of Empiricism, I don’t see that as a drawback, as Empiricism remains my favorite Borknagar album to date. The more spacey, atmospheric feel of this album mixed with the progressive nature of the music makes for a unique listen that remains nostalgic. The production here is crystal clear, with the guitar riffs having a nice crunch and the vocals and keyboards taking center stage.
If you dig Vintersorg and Borknagar, you absolutely cannot go wrong with Cronian’s Erathems. It showcases progressive song structures, atmospheric and cinematic keyboards, solid riffs and one of Vintersorg’s best vocal performances of his career. This is a solid album that will suffice to hold me over between now and and the next Borknagar and Vintersrog albums. The special edition comes with a bonus track in the form of Full Moon Inferno that I recommend you track down.”

Recommended if You Like: Borknagar, Vintersorg, Enslaved, Ihsahn, Ulver, Arcturus, Vulture Industries.



Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells



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