Label: Season of Mist
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Format: Vinyl / CD / Cassette
Translation note:
“Vökudraumsins Fangi” is Icelandic and translates to “Prisoner of the Waking Dream.”
It refers to being trapped in a liminal state between consciousness and nightmare — awake, yet unable to escape inner darkness.
Description:
Vökudraumsins Fangi (“Prisoner of the Waking Dream”) is a haunting meditation on isolation, inner turmoil, and the thin veil between consciousness and despair. With this release, Icelandic force Auðn refine their atmospheric black metal into something both ferocious and deeply introspective — vast in scope, yet crushingly personal.
Icy tremolo riffs surge and recede like storms across barren landscapes, while relentless drumming and anguished vocals carve a path through bleak emotional terrain. Moments of melody and restraint emerge from the chaos, lending the album a sense of tragic beauty amid its relentless cold. The production is expansive and immersive, amplifying the feeling of being trapped within one’s own thoughts.
For fans of Misþyrming, Svartidauði, Mgła, and Wolves in the Throne Room, Vökudraumsins Fangi stands as a powerful statement of modern atmospheric black metal — intense, mournful, and profoundly absorbing. An album that doesn’t merely depict darkness, but inhabits it.