The rain in Spain may pour down and out of it comes ELFFOR. An offspring project of the band Suffering Down, ELFFOR was formed solely by Eol in 1995. What started out as ambient music, ELFFOR took a turn and touched on Black Metal with Medieval overtones. This is a one man band consisting of Eol on vocals and synthesizers while a guest named Jabo appears on guitar. ELFFOR released their first album in 1998 and four others followed. Currently in a deal with Northern Silence Productions they agreed to re-release their first four CD’s with new artwork and bonus tracks. Technically Son Of The Shades was released in 2002, this is its re-release with two new tracks added to the mix.

Usually I am not one to listen to ambient instrumentals, but something about this album struck a chord in me. It’s true that a one man band can create a huge deep dark atmosphere. Yes, there is a long and pretty synthesized intro, but it changes towards the end and sets the tone for what the album is all about. This is quite experimental and one of the strangest black metal bands I‘ve ever heard. The second song and title track Son Of The Shades starts off slow with waves of melancholic soundscapes and soon changes, almost 4 minutes into the song we have drums, guitar and traditional black metal growled vocals. The next song Of Wolves And Blood is quite happening. Layers of music wash over you like the sea on a dark and cloudy day. I’d have to say track four Infernal Woods is the stand out track on the album. The synthesized riff combined with the guitar is the most majestic riff ever, combined with the lyrical content about the forest, mid song it’s almost as if we are in the woods as the sounds of birds blare through the speakers, suddenly towards the end of the song we are met with melodic chanting. From here on the album gets a bit strange. Though I enjoy the experimentalness of Son Of The Shades, I also long for songs with vocals, as there are more dark Medieval influenced epic keyboard instrumentals on this album. I counted about 4 songs with actual lyrics which pop in unexpectedly mid song. Speaking of, it is a bonus that they did add Hidden In The Nebular Landscapes, because it is one of the more traditional black metal songs on this album. ELFFOR has got the atmosphere that most black metal bands lack. You want to go to the dark corners of your mind, listen to ELFFOR and they will take you there.