Jotnarr (or more accurately JØTNARR, named after a type of monster from the film “The Troll Hunter”) are a trio hailing from the fairly un-grim wastes of Colchester in the east of England. Chris, Simon and Ollie have all been plugging away in various bands such as Meadows, Mother Sky and Three Thrones (which are all still going concerns) before getting together in 2013 to jam what could be considered to be black metal, with its scathing, evil atmosphere, fused to a belligerently hardcore punk backbone, topped off with elements of screamo. Heavy, devastating and yet melodic. Lyrics are concerned with human relationships with the natural world, environmental degradation, loss, grief and wolves. Their interests include King Diamond, Black Sabbath, and playing shows. For fans of early Ulver, His Hero Is Gone and Wolves In The Throne Room.

Dead Air At The Pulpit
JØTNARR is a three piece band from Colchester, United Kingdom who formed in the summer of 2013, by the looks of things. JØTNARR play a killer style of music that incorporates elements of hardcore, punk, and crust within their sound. Musically, JØTNARR can be said to be influenced by band such as The Holy Mountain, Cursed, His Hero Is Gone, and Tragedy, and Rorcal. Burn And Bury is the band's debut four song 12", which was released via React With Protest, Superfi, Vetala Productions, and Prismatik records on April 13th, 2015. On Burn And Bury, JØTNARR offer up four tracks of killer hardcore, punk, and crust with a strong doom metal backbone. Overall, Burn And Bury is a killer EP and should not be missed. Highly recommended! Enjoy!

Cadaver Garden
Jotnarr are from the UK and play an interesting brand of black metal. To pigeonhole them into one category such as black metal isn’t exactly fair though. They fuse black metal with crust, some death metal, and doom at times. Broadening their musical spectrum Jotnarr really come out of left field catching you off guard leaving you feel unprepared. With the seventeen minute run time of Burn and Bury you feel more than inclined to press play again to listen. It is an album that really draws your attention as well as demands it. There is nothing subtle at all about the music, as a matter of fact a lot of it is abrasive. Abrasiveness isn’t always without its beauty though, as Jotnarr string together some incredibly memorable melodic pieces throughout Burn and Bury. There are lyrics of course, but they are very minimal forcing you to focus on the musicianship and the music that is at hand. Burn and Bury sport a good amount of atmosphere, but never buckle on the fact that the music also needs to be up front, loud, heard and respected. Jotnarr has devised a formula in which black metal is more accessible by adding different elements to their music. The hyper tremolo picking is there, so are the pounding drums and the dissonant howls of the vocalist, but Jotnarr have perfected the element of surprise. The serene melodic intros melt away to a metallic onslaught of black metal blasphemy. While the songs delve deeper into the dark, and search further for more bitterness, they still seem to keep that certain melodicism about them. Being melodic never means not being black metal, so don’t worry all of you heathens who are die hard black metal lovers. Jotnarr are black metal, but they are a melting pot of different styles of metal as well. They never sacrifice one for the other, or stray from what their true purpose is. Jotnarr has found a sickeningly sweet balance between being a marching black metal hate machine and being an atmospheric more melodic focused band. The two are fused expertly making for great tunes to thrash about to. If you have not already, it is time to take notice of Jotnarr. With Burn and Bury as well as their other releases, they will be here for a while and with this release, it is a statement from them saying so.

Ghostcult
The host of independent labels involved in the various-format issue of Burn and Bury (React With Protest /Vetala Productions/SuperFi Records/Prismatik), the latest EP from Colchester nasty noiseniks Jøtnarr, is testament to a steadying realisation of the promise this relatively young outfit possesses in buckets. From the start there’s an unmistakably British feel to the music: the Crust infusion lending the frosted riffs an almost Post-punk vibe. The mournful groove to opener ‘Rise By Sin’, however, is as desolate as it is infectious and memorable. Stark, cold leadwork opens into a rolling, crushing coda of Stoner-style riffs which pulse with an added energy, while Chris Moore’s harsh vocal coats the whole with brief yet highly-effective bursts of tar-gurgling. The band’s diversity is fully displayed in the ensuing ‘Sunless’: a Shoegaze jangle, doubtless anathema to many pure Blackhearts, steadily dropping into a eruption of Winterfylleth-esque violent emotion; the slower pace and wistful lead yowls maintaining the earlier touches of humanity. The tremolo thrills of ‘Hernswolf’ zig-zag through intricate patterns and bludgeoning riffs, Moore’s horrifying rasp unifying the band’s core elements in an all-too-brief track which perfectly embodies their ethos. The medieval melancholy opening ‘Waldeinsamkeit’, meanwhile, is wonderfully dictated by Oliver Harvey’s stunning stickwork which courses subtly throughout this eye-opening set; the closing track exploding into life halfway in before cascading to another of those pensive time switches and subsequent wailing solos. Jøtnarr’s arsenal is proving increasingly powerful, their Black undercurrent positively effervescent with the superb blend and execution of other hostilities. Burn and Bury marks them out as one of the UK’s brightest underground lights at present.

Inhale The Heavy
Jotnarr hail from Colchester, in the eastern area on the UK which has many a dark offering from nasty pieces of work such as Matthew Hopkins the Witchfinder General through to cartoon vampires Cradle of Filth, so Jotnarr are continuing the trend spewing from putrid black metal. Jotnarr share personnel with a favourite of mine Meadows, and this gives them the extra added layer to their sound, an element of ‘loud QUIET’ which I enjoy. Track two, “Sunless” spends the first half instrumental with drums and guitar pottering along, until it pauses, then cranks it up a gear including the black metal buzz guitar and rasping vocals that sound like they are coming from another room, or another world. Jotnarr aren’t afraid of bringing in something different, some simple guitar plucking, breakdowns or silent pauses. I have yet to catch them play live yet, but they are on my list. Jotnarr, Terra and Wren would be a good triumvirate of a line up. Last track “Waldeinsamkeit” meaning ‘solitude in the forest’ (thank you internet translations) is a dark atmospheric sound scape that’s a slow burn waiting for midway through its 6 minutes for the pay off when the rhythmic churn kicks in and takes you home! Join the giants, join the Jotnarr.

Merchants Of Air
Get ready to read a whole bunch of musical genres, most of them quite extreme. In fact, I'll just throw them in right now so you have an idea what we're dealing with here. Black metal, hardcore punk, doom metal, stoner rock, psychedelic rock, screamo, death metal, industrial, sludge, post-metal. There you go, that should cover it I think. Now let's go a little deeper into this strange and confusing album, which I do highly recommend by the way. Jotnarr are a band from Colchester, England, formed after a jamsession in 2013. Members have been active in bands like Meadows, Mother Sky and Three Thrones before and combine their interest in extreme metal and the natural world around us in this brutal band. Brutal but melodic, harsh but atmospheric and raw but immersive, that could be the ideal description for what I'm hearing now. Influenced by pretty much everything between Black Sabbath and Wolves In The Throne Room, Jotnarr takes extreme music a step further. The album opens with 'Rise By Sin', which immediately starts with death metal riffs. At this point I'm ready to yell 'Dismember' but soon after I realize that there's so much more going on. With the tradition of nineties black metal firmly in mind, Jotnarr incorporate elements from so much more. At first, the vintage hard rock elements seem out of place but once the song takes a nudge towards stoner doom, the genius of it all comes shining through. 'Sunless' begins like a post-rock song, showing a band that would do quite well in that genre. I guess it's safe to mention a band like The Ocean here. Of course, this wouldn't be Jotnarr if they didn't turn the whole thing into a blackened piece of crust punk shortly after, without even changing the basic riff that much. Seems impossible? Nope, these guys just pulled it off. By now, I'm convinced that if anyone could blend black metal with the Macarena, these guys could. Don't worry, there's no Macarena here. 'Hernswolf', the shortest track here, is a brutal piece of old school black metal. Like old Ulver? You will love this one, hell, you will love the entire album. Closer 'Waldeinsamkeit' is my favorite track, pretty much an 'all-of-the-above' kinda song but that's fine by me. It's not often that chaotic black metal comes in such high quality and with so much variation. So check it out, and let Jotnarr shock and awe you. You know you want to...

Metal Observer
Colchester-based three piece shape shifters Jøtnarr have returned with a four track EP of colossal riffs and disparaging rhythms slathered with tinges of crust, black metal, sludge and post-metal. Burn and Bury marks the band’s third effort, following two short demos that were released in 2013. Initially released on as a limited run of CD’s and cassettes through Prismatik, the EP is seeing a vinyl edition through the collaborative effort of SuperFi Records, Vetala Productions and React With Protest. Certainly the band’s strongest work to date, Burn and Bury is one of those releases that is absurdly daunting to explain exactly what’s going on. While that might read like the band’s sound is a hodgepodge of eclectic styles and schizophrenic tendencies, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The band’s influences may span diverse genres but their masterful songwriting weaves everything into a fantastic tapestry of sounds and emotions. From the extremely crunchy notes mixed with crust-infused rising chord progressions and touches of melodic trem riffing on “Rise by Sin” to the melodic post-metal leanings and atmospheric black metal wandering of “Sunless”, Jøtnarr touches upon a lot of styles but manages to retain a sound of their own. Caustic trem riffing and frenetic percussion run rampant throughout, as the music breathes into moments of serene melody and back again. Even when assaulting the sense with fiery black metal histrionics, Jøtnarr has a keen ear for melodies that become ingrained in the subconscious. The rabid and acerbic screams that serve as vocals are extremely low in the mix, but perhaps it’s to keep the focus on the music. Burn and Bury shows Jøtnarr as a band that has improved leaps and bounds without drastically changing their style.

Metal Trenches
Jotnarr is a trio of musicians from the UK. They consider themselves a fusion of black metal atmosphere and hardcore punk. Inspirations include Ulver, His Hero Is Gone and Wolves In The Throne Room. This collection of four songs, Burn and Bury, may be brief, but this is made up for with sheer emotion and honesty. Personally, what I am hearing is a combination of both black and metalcore riffs. But the latter influences aren't anything like As I Lay Dying or Killswitch Engage. They have much more to do with lesser-known groups like Trauma and Nodes of Ranvier. In any case, the vocals are far more extreme. These screams are raw, gritty, and abrasive. The disconcerting, buried solo in the final track is equally fiery. Jotnarr has a softer side as well. "Sunless" is filled with depressive post-rock leanings. Think Vattnet Viskar or Bosse de Nage. A jangly framework of indie and tremolo keep compositions grounded in both likable melodies and grim deterrence. "Hernswolf" is a concise blast of focused emotional energy. Finally, "Waldeinsamkeit"'s intro almost sounds like The Cure circa Disintegration. This caught me off guard at first, but ultimately it's fitting that such depressive worlds should collide. In the end, Burn and Bury appropriately leaves you unfulfilled in that you just wish there was more. Like the end of a bittersweet relationship, you yearn to buy more time for the good stuff. Pick up as yet another Name Your Price album today.

Ninehertz
If the hope and vitality of the British doom scene holds true, then it lies in the future of bands like Jotnarr. Our deeply rooted hardcore scene has been viscerally vibrant for decades, but the doom and black metal uprising has been a recent underground upsurge, taking inspiration from bands such as Army of Flying Robots and Hammers, basing their sound around the honesty of a hardcore sound grounding it so the more phantasmagorical themes of the host genres don't override the vital and primal need to surge onwards and upwards. Jotnarr promise much, their releases and numerous gigs to date making Burn and Bury a highly anticipated release. Only Bast have gone so far in promise and subsequent delivery of a crossover doom sound, and Jotnarr's black metal hardcore amalgamation still offers a different angle altogether. It's clear within a minute that they've upped their game from the already impressive double set of demos and deliver against the expectation, and by the time it ends, a sadly short less than seventeen minutes later, you are compelled to somply play it from the start again. There's the marvellous Rise By Sin, pinning you back with a couple of enormous riffs running through it, satisfyingly heavy, with chaotic whirlwinds of crust and doom riding along with you, coming back louder, heavier, more dangerous intent. Sunless shuffles towards the hardcore end, while the fidgety Hernswolf - never resting on a riff or style and over in under two minutes cannot hide the fact that all component parts are awe-inspiringly brilliant, proof of a band with ideas, ability and healthy inpatient exhuberance. Waldeinsamkeit - a gentle and lush intro deceives as it descends from beauty and light towards an uglier, harsher ending, the post-black metal leanings providing an uplifting air that saves you from suffocation. Alongside Dune, Meadows, Torpor, Bast and many more, the meddling of genres is a high point calling card of the best of the British doom uprising. And Jotnarr rise straight to the top; this cacophony, this almost perfect concoction of potions delivering a spell that is troublesome, nose bleedingly heavy, and ultimately enchanting.

No Clean Singing
Finally, we come to a band whose music I actually knew something about before this weekend. Last October, in another one of these Shades of Black posts (here), I wrote about a two-song EP I really enjoyed named Divide the Growth and Stone by a three-man group from Colchester, England, named Jøtnarr. I ended that write-up with the words, “More please”. My wish has been granted, because I’ve just discovered that Jøtnarr have released a new collection of songs named Burn and Bury. The four songs on this EP hit like an electric shock, with powerhouse riffs that are catchy as hell, rhythms that will shake your bones, and a great sense of dynamics in the songwriting. The music rips, tears, and claws, but it’s also heavy as hell and sometimes as light and vibrant as a sun-dappled stream — and all the songs are memorable. Trying to put this EP into a genre box is difficult. It’s part black metal, part post-metal, part crust, and part sledgehammering demolition job. The musicianship is superb, the song-writing is wonderful inventive, and the passion and intensity are in the red zone. In a word, fantastic.

Occult Black Metal Zine
Jotnarr are a band from the United Kingdom that plays a mixture of raw, atmospheric black metal and hardcore punk and this is a review of their 2015 ep "Burn And Bury" which was released by SuperFi Records. A very raw and lo-fi black metal sound starts off the ep and also speeds up and brings in a great amount of blast beats and melodies and after grim screams are added into the music more hardcore punk elements are added into the music and the songs also start bringing in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. You can hear elements of post hardcore in the bands musical style while the slower sections bring in a touch of doom metal and some of the tracks also bring in a small amount of clean playing and acoustic guitars which also adds in a touch of progressive and post black metal while the songs also still have their raw moments and the last track is long and epic in length. Jotnarr plays a style of black metal that is perfectly balanced between the more atmospheric and post style as well as bringing in the old school rawness with a touch of hardcore punk to create a sound of their own, the production sounds very heavy and raw while the lyrics cover darkness and nature themes. In my opinion Jotnarr are a very great sounding mixture of raw, atmospheric black metal and hardcore punk and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Rise by Sun" and "Hernswolf". 8 out of 10.

The Sludgelord
The wonderful people at Vetala records sent a copy of JØTNARR’s excellent 'Burn And Bury'. It comes packaged in a matt finish cardboard sleeve. Looks like it may have been made from recycled paper, brilliant! I'm an eco warrior as well as a fan of heavy music so this was very pleasing. On to the music; 'Rise By Sin' begins with the type of black metal riffing normally reserved for Norwegian bands. The screams are harsh and twisted but not too lo fi. The riffs slow to a crushing, sludgy hammering riff which will put many generic sludge bands to shame. 'Sunless' is simply a beautifully stunning track. The opening picked, clean guitar sets the tone for the melancholy of the song itself, it's one of those melodies that will get stuck in your head no matter what your musical preferences are. The same riff is played with distortion before the frantic, buzzsaw strumming provides twists and turns that will keep listeners entertained. Fans of the likes of Taake will love 'Hernswolf'. It's certainly got plenty of bite and the flourishes of palm muted chops towards the end will make you nod your head approvingly. 'Waldeinsamkeit' has another beautifully melancholic guitar riff which builds slowly before melting faces and freezing bones. Imagine corpse painted warriors on horseback, battling across Arctic tundra, this is the perfect soundtrack; gritty and triumphant. A noisy yet perfectly executed guitar solo brings forth the final curtain. It's all over far too soon. JØTNARR how plenty of promise on this release and could grow into one of the leading names in British underground extreme music should they keep up the amazing work. Expect great things from this band in the coming years.