Review: Ontborg – Following the Steps of Damnation
Ontborg surprised me with their latest record “Following the Steps of Damnation”: it unfolds like a frostbitten lament that slowly blooms into grim majesty and the guitars gnash with HM-2 fury (Im in love already). Ontborg weave a melodic death metal tapestry that feels both mourning and relentless. The riffs designed merely to cut; they cry, they ache, they evoke sorrow sharpened by resolve.
From the opener’s melancholic pulse to the final echoes of The Tower, the album rides a mid-tempo swell that rarely lets up. There are no sprawling extremes to drown in, but within that consistency lies its power. Each track, from the mournful solemnity of “Nightfall” to the doom-tinged expanse of “To the North”, becomes a chapter in a elegy for the damned, navigated with calculated restraint.
Lead guitar harmonies stand as the emotional spine. They flare with haunting resonance, lighting the deeper shadow of the rhythm beneath. And full-on HM-2 glory. When the melodies soar, they pull the gravitas of the stomping riffs upward without sacrificing weight.
What holds the album back from perfection is its singularity of motion. The steady momentum, while hypnotic, risks monotony. A handful of tracks push this edge: “To the North” stretches near nine minutes with measured pacing that tests patience. At times it feels like traversing the same desolate tundra without variation in the horizon.
But this steadiness also underpins the funeral march atmosphere. Ontborg do not reach for chaos; instead they cultivate solemnity. The production reinforces that: guitars crunch with nostalgic grit, vocals cut clear and raw, drums anchor the path without flash. It’s a deliberate austerity that allows the melodic grief to own the airspace.
In this sophomore offering, Ontborg refine their craft. The references to the giants of Swedish melodic death metal are there, but they are subservient to the emotional intent. The album isn’t an exercise in homage, more a ceremony. It feels less like a performance and more like invocation.
On balance, “Following the Steps of Damnation” is a solemn triumph of mood and melody. It may lack ecstatic peaks, but its measured haunt carries weight. It’s an album made for reflection rather than eruption, but within its melancholic gravity, there is quiet grandeur.