Peaceville have been quite quiet of late especially on their reissue front. Perhaps they were looking for a bit of a new angle and they certainly have found one here. You are probably no real stranger to either of these albums and if you are, well it is the perfect time to pick them up. Both obviously feature Fenriz or Gylve Nagell to give him his real name. Isengard gave him scope to explore a more Viking folk etched style that would have on the whole looked out of place in the Darkthrone scheme of things and no doubt had collaborator Nocturno Culto (Ted Skjellum) banning him from ever picking mushrooms in the forests of Norway again if he had suggested releasing it under their name. Having said that though the black thrash employed on ‘Total Death’ is killer and could have been an exception. Høstmørke was released originally in 1995 and Panzerfaust the same year so they are good companion pieces to each other.
What Peaceville have done is to release both albums on two discs, the second with Fenriz giving a ‘director’s commentary’ over the top of the music. Obviously this is not a new concept as film enthusiasts are aware but they are something on film that I rarely would profess to having the time to listen to. However on an album of between 30-40 minutes I made the time and found myself quite enthralled. Fenriz keeps the conversation interesting and humorous, he is a witty character as anyone having dipped into interviews and his musical legacy will already be aware and it really comes across here. He is also obviously really enjoying himself here and it’s most amusing hearing him croon along with the austere poetic vocal high notes on the Isengard material. Obviously he is also full of fascinating facts about the recording process, pointing out how things were done in the studio, where they fit into the grand scheme of things and the influences of all the material. He also takes great amusement pointing out mistakes to us all where they are made without a hint of embarrassment and telling us how much he hates his vocals on some numbers today.
As far as Panzerfaust is concerned it is pointed out that it starts in the vein of the landmark ‘Transilvanian Hunger’ which preceded it and there is a lot of talk about Ted’s vocal performance and the style and tribute towards Tom G Warrior and Celtic Frost omnipresent on the recording. What I did find really interesting was talk about track six ‘Quintessence’ I was not aware of Varg Vikernes involvement on writing the lyrics and the fact that Fenriz attributes the music here to old folk songs (and not folk metal) like stuff done by Steeleye Span and in particular Uriah Heep song ‘Pilgrim.’
I found listening to Høstmørke a breath of fresh air after quite a few years having only heard Vinterskugge more recently and lost my cassette copy of the album some time ago. One thing I did find really amusing was the similarity between ‘I Kamp Med Kvitekrist’ and the recent track ‘Circle The Wagons.’ This is not something that Fenriz mentions (perhaps this was recorded before that particular song was conceived). Again he mentions The Heep and ‘Sweet Freedom’ being an inspiration as well as Bathory who gets many horns held aloft to during these conversations. Many lyrics were taken from poets here which apparently explains why only two songs featured on the label inserts.
I guess this is something that the label are going to be able to do in the future with other reissues, I get the feeling there will certainly be more from Fenriz in the future as ‘Goatloard’ and ‘Ravishing Grimness’ are immanent and as most fans of this sort of stuff are no doubt nerds to a certain extent (and that’s not meant as an insult) I reckon they have hit on a good idea. It stopped me wittering on about what the music sounds like in the review too and as on the whole you are probably aware of this anyway it was an enjoyable new spin on an old idea for me too. I’m not sure if there is going to be a huge market for these if you already have the originals so in that respect I have to say for once (and I am normally opposed 100% to the idea) that the label make the commentary’s available to download at a reasonable cost on MP3 as I expect a lot of people will want to hear these.
http://www.peaceville.com/index.php
