Album Review: Runemagick – After Chaos: Nocturnal Vigil
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
Forging away in the metal underground for three and a half decades, Runemagick may not be the most well known acts in Swedish metal but they are one of the most consistent and well respected especially amongst death doom metal fans. Runemagick these days is the solo work of founding member Nicklas Rudolfsson termed ‘Era VI’ of the band but since Runemagick became a one-man project in 2024 the music has flowed freely with the new album “After Chaos: Nocturnal Vigil” being the second of this era of Runemagick and the fifteenth album in total.
“After Chaos: Nocturnal Vigil” follows on from the themes presented in previous album “Cycle Of The Dying Sun (Dawn Of Ashen Realms)” with this album not focusing “on destruction itself, but on what remains when the noise has faded and the dust has settled”. The album is split into eight interconnected movements and “each linked to a rune of the Elder Futhark”. The music is of the death doom metal variety that Runemagick is known for but very much focused on the atmospheric aesthetics of the genre with ritualistic passages, meditative sections and the use of Shamanic trance vocals provided by special guest Dísa Draugurinn. All other vocals and instruments on the album are performed by Nicklas Rudolfsson.
With a focus on atmosphere, ritualism, meditation and trances, this is an album that really takes its time and one that requires patience with it being a double LP and CD set coming to just over 86 minutes in total. There is no immediacy to this music with each movement taking its time to create a mood and atmosphere through some great riffs and melodies as well as drawn out sections. This means you have to be in a certain mindspace to appreciate this album so if you are looking for instant gratification, this is not the album for you. There are plenty of memorable riffs and gorgeous folk melodies throughout “After Chaos: Nocturnal Vigil” but it definitely takes its time to reach those moments. Highlights for me included ‘Rune Magick Unbound’, ‘Urðr’s Cosmic Weave’ and ‘The Vast That Knows No Shape’.
When it comes to death doom metal, you get a lot of variation in the genre from the more melodic side to the more crushing and aggressive side and as presented on “After Chaos: Nocturnal Vigil” the atmospheric and ambient side which is not for everyone. There were moments I loved on this album and moments I struggled with but you cannot deny the mood throughout.
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