I seem to have been inundated by releases of this nature recently; bands posing about pretending to be trolls as their female counterparts dance around in suitable mead-serving wench attire hoping to be the next big thing in Middle Earth. Sadly, most of these have failed to really light my Pagan fire and such abundance has left me feeling rather apathetic about all this folk metal malarkey of late; a symptom of exposure to too much mediocrity rather than a diminishing interest in the genre as a whole, might I ascertain. Then just as I’m about ready to throw my rune stones out of the window, hitting some innocent pedestrian in the process while sticking on some Christian rock in protest (not really), Thyrfing come along with this and blast away all ennui, rekindling my faith in Pagan-kind.
This has been quite a tough album to review in all honesty; not through lack of things to say about it but simply because every time I figured I was ready to write this up, I would end up hitting the play button again for just one more listen and picking out more things I like about this album. From the moment I press play I find myself drawn in to the hypnotic melodies that take me on a smooth flight through tranquil warmth and the chaotic build ups that leave you gasping for breath. The underlying keyboards pass through, filling out the music with haunting and desolate vibes that soon tear the music apart as all of the pieces are engulfed by a whirlwind that seeks to destroy all in its path.
There’s a truly pompous bass line that seems to be in constant motion throughout these seven tracks, carrying along the momentum with a lively pace. From the opening bars of ‘En Sista Litania’ we are bowled over by the epic, blackened ferocity as a caustic wall of guitars are overlapped with a prolonged twang and a relentless foray of skin pounding. Majestic, windswept melodies such as on ‘Isolation’ blast the senses with its icy furore, and with its harsh guitar sounds I am reminded a little of Enslaved. The keyboards and devastating bass on ‘Fran Stormens Oga’ pick up splendidly and throw you into the heart of its Moonsorrowian vibes. There is an almost calamitous swagger to the drumming on this track which clatters along in a wild, reckless fashion caring not one shred for the damage it causes along the way.
The ravaged, wartorn cries give a hint of desperation to the music and there is certainly very little here that could be accused of being light hearted. ‘Becoming The Eye’ (one of the few song titles I can pronounce!) comes at you like a steamroller with its crushing sound that is broken up by a creepy melody, while still retaining heaviness. The titled track ‘Hels Vete’ sounds fairly innocuous to begin with until the doom-laden flavour comes to the fore, as clean vocals creep gradually into the mix interspersing the ferocious rasps adding to the epic splendour of this track. The album ends with the chilled out sounds of ‘Tre Vintrar – Tva Solar’ which takes us out with a melody that blazes through with alarming guitars and a dramatic chorus that emerges, steeped in atmospherics. Overall an exceptional album that has brought the spark back into an otherwise stagnant scene.
http://www.thyrfing.com
http://www.myspace.com/thyrfingband
