Eight years of silence since Eonian, Galder gone, and a comeback few still expected: Grand Serpent Rising lands 81/100 across six reviews. Sputnikmusic rolls out the artillery (4.8/5): « the boys are back, they’re sounding as evil as ever and they’re ready to reclaim the throne as the masters of the symphonic black metal genre », to them, one of the best albums of the band’s career, reconnecting with the early-2000s era where Abrahadabra and Eonian sounded sterile. Blabbermouth and Distorted Sound follow at 9/10.
Points of agreement: opener « Ascent » as a breakneck rush, « Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel » where everything clicks per Kerrang!, and orchestration finally dosed rather than dumped on top. Shagrath and Silenoz, now sole captains, « threw everything at the wall this time round, and found that most of it sticks ».
The fracture is about length: seventy minutes of « blackened proggery » that turn into overload for Kerrang! (3/5), which demands judicious pruning and winces at the gothic camp of « The Qryptfarer ». AMG stays at 3.5/5, and the public (66/100) shares the fatigue, hence a half-point penalty. Comeback achieved, scissors forgotten.
