Here come Vintersorg with their 7th album and their peculiar take on Viking Folk Metal, combining many elements into each track with a “scientific foundation and romantic edge”.
This album is undoubtedly “Viking”, not least because it’s all in Swedish, there’s Black Metal as on the fiery first track “Världsalltets fanfar” (“Universal Fanfare”), much of it is Folk, and we hear classic Rock/Metal but there’s much more. The album is rich in moods and contrasts, making it Progressive in its way. I enjoy listening to Galar and Borknagar, with whom Vintersorg has associations, so I’m by no means averse to the general style but at times I found “Jordpuls” (“Earth Pulse”) quite a complex and difficult album to listen to. Yet it has a certain magical quality. The constant changes can be the source of great musical pleasure. Within most tracks, fire gives way to delicacy, like dark clouds turning into sunshine, and there’s always a resoluteness running through the work. For me, the most interesting track is “Till dånet av forsar och fall” (“To the Roar of Rapids and Waterfalls”). The guitar work is technical yet there’s a great groove line. The expansive chorus wouldn’t be out of place in a Las Vegas cabaret club. What struck me the most was the disconcertingly wistful flute section which then gives way to a steady metal riff. The wispy sound re-appears elsewhere, including on the final track, the emotion-laden “Eld och lågor” (“Fire and Flames”). These eerie and haunting sounds are rarely standalone but are usually to be found buried in amongst the more recognisable Black/Folk sections. At times it’s like turning on a radio on at night when it’s not quite in tune. “Klippor och skär” (“Rocks and Reefs”) has this quality. Ostensibly it’s like a rousing Russian Folk song evoking Cossacks dancing with a simple Swedish chorus, yet it is the accompaniment to harshly growled Black Metal while at the same time in the background there’s an orchestral sound which gives it a depth. It’s like a subliminal sound which is coming from behind the cosmos, something which interests the band. I sensed at times on this album a feel of the Beatles, with the apparent simplicity of the choruses complementing an avant-garde element. Where “Klippor och skär” shouted “Sergeant Pepper” to me, the more lightweight “Skogen Sover” (“Sleeping Forest”) swings along steadily and has the air of “All You Need is Love” about it. Yet in spite of all the transforming scene and subliminal sounds, much of this album is classic, with technical strolls, harmonies, delicacy, heroic and sing-a-long choruses and Rock/Metal rhythms.
There are so many elements to “Jordpuls”. It’s like an album in 3D and for sure there are no boundaries. I’ll be honest and say that in spite of several listens, at present I can’t get my head round it. Some parts truly inspire me. Other parts don’t. I knew of Vintersorg before this but I wonder if you have to be either a devotee of the band or Swedish or something else that I’m not to fully appreciate it. Yet each time I listen to it, “Jordpuls” grows on me. I’ll just have to listen to it some more.
http://www.myspace.com/vintersorganic
http://www.napalmrecords.com
