Frost, the drummer known for his work with Satyricon and 1349, might be the first thing that stands out on this album. You can almost feel the chill of the metronome-like precision in his technical playing. At times the album is rough and brutal, while at other moments it drifts into a grim atmosphere with real emotional depth.

This post-black, progressive record features most songs in the eight to ten minute range, making it the kind of album that takes you on a journey while still keeping one foot firmly planted in black metal. Sometimes it is surprisingly catchy, while at other points it leans heavily into tension and unease.

The track “Omniprésents” really stood out to me for its drone-like riffs and intense drumming. My favourite song on the album is “For the Glory.” It carries a melody that feels familiar yet original, which makes the song memorable and helps it stand apart. That melody does not appear until around the two-minute mark, but when it comes in, it unfolds slowly and steadily, coasting through you like winter weather the longer you spend outside in it.

What I like about Via Doloris is how the music does not seem interested in following a common song structure. This is not verse-chorus-verse-chorus material. This is music meant to take you on a journey, from the frozen landscapes of Norway to quieter reflection inside your own mind. There is an element of mystery to Guerre et Paix. It plays in a way that resists easy familiarity, and that is part of its appeal. It is progressive, but not in the flashy sense where the band is trying to show off for applause. Instead, it feels like music built to transport the listener somewhere else, like an icy battlefield being pummelled by snow and enemies.

At times the album uses choirs, dissonant guitar layers and textures, acoustic sections, pummelling drumming, and drone-like repetitive riffs. It is the kind of record where you do not always fully grasp what is happening in each individual moment, but the mystery is part of the reward. The real pleasure is in following the path from the start to the finish and letting the atmosphere do its work.

I did find the ending a bit abrupt and unexpected. The final track, “Visdommens Vei II,” does not initially give the album the kind of conclusion I expected. It leaves you feeling like another track should follow, and then suddenly it is over. Even though the album has already run around 45 minutes by that point, it does not land with the obvious grand finale some records aim for. That said, the ending has grown on me with repeated listens. The familiarity in the riff from “Visdommens Vei I” leading into an outro-like choir passage does provide a conclusion, even if it caught me off guard the first couple of times.

The album artwork is a cold scene of water beneath a nearly black sky. I find it very reflective of the music because it conveys a dark chill that feels truer to the damp and shadowed landscape pictured, rather than the more expected unholy or snow-covered imagery that often shows up in black metal artwork. It suits the mood of the album well.

As the feedback fades, Guerre et Paix is a solid album. It carries classic Norwegian black metal elements while also leaning into a more modern post-black direction. It is definitely playlist worthy, even if it will not be joining my trve kvlt black metal playlist. It fits better on my bloodhymn playlist, where black, doom, dark, and folky metal all live together, or on my general metal playlist. This is an album that takes time to digest, and I will be listening to it throughout the year to really figure out where it sits.