I hope that your holiday was filled with presents, food, and fun. I definitely had a great time, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the new year brings!
As I said in my last post of 2013, I would be starting off a music review festival. For the months of January & February, I’ll be reviewing albums from bands that I haven’t examined on this blog yet. Some of the bands are well know, while others are a little more obscure. Today’s album comes from a band that’s relatively well known, but has changed many times since their beginnings. With that said, let’s look at the first release of Swedish folk/black metal band Vintersorg, and see if it still carries weight.
Background
Taken from the back of the booklet (Written by Andreas Hedlund, the band’s leader):
“Me and some other guys started this project as a full line-up band under the name "Vargatron" (Wolfthrone) in the winter of 1994. The whole idea was to create a style foundated in Black Metal, but using mostly clean vocals, and just some parts with the ordinary grim vocals. Nowadays it's quite common, but back in '94 it was not so many bands with these ideas. As time passed by some line-up changes occurred, and at the end the whole project was put to rest in the summer of '96. But my interest for the songs I wrote back in '94/'95 for "Vargatron" was still strong so I decided to continue the project as a one-man band. As I then was the only member, I simply changed the band name to "Vintersorg". From the beginning this MCD was supposed to be a concept album, because of the strong musical relations between the songs. But I found it hard to get the same emotions lyricwise because of the fact that they're mostly from '95 and just some newer, but anyway I think they all stand behind the record title "Hedniskhjärtad". Even if the most songs are old I hope you'll still find 'em enjoyable.”
Songs
Norrland (North Land)(“***”): There’s a bit of deception used in this song, but in at good way. For the first few seconds your treated to some folk-sounding guitar work, accompanied by some soft drumming, and it all sounds nice. About the 50 second mark it all goes away, and is replaced by heavy drumming & guitars. On top of that, there’s also Andrea’s singing along with it, and it’s a little unusual. Despite not knowing a single word of Swedish, his voice is actually very crisp and clear, despite a couple seconds in the middle and end where he sings in a more gravely voice. It all sounds very good, and it only gets better from here.
Stilla (Silent)(“***”): Like Norrland, Stilla’s beginning is quite deceptive. You still have the soft drumming & guitars like in the first song, only this time you have a beautiful female voice singing (This voice also appears in other places throughout the tune). The song goes to it’s heavy instrumentation mode much sooner than Norrland, and in a change from the previous tune, Mr. Hedlund does growl while he sings. It almost sounds as if he’s singing an epic Swedish poetic ballad. His voices sounds very deep when he sings in this, and you’d almost expect to hear this in a Viking Hall, with roudy warriors drinking mead & feasting their hearts out.
Norrskensdrömmar (Aurora Dreams)(“***”): If Stilla sounded like a song you’d hear amongst the Vikings, then this one sounds like something you’d listen to during a mountain climbing experience. It’s very sweeping, the drums & guitars are well-paced yet heavy, and the singing strikes a balance between clear & growling. Although this song isn’t one of my favorites off of this album, I certainly don’t hate it at all, simply because of how well made it is!
Hednaorden (Heathen Order)(“***”): This is the only song off of this album that I don’t like, and for two reasons, with the first is that there’s no build up to the heaviness. The first three songs had a buildup before things go heavy, but this one just dives head on into it, and it sounds (At least for me) very chaotic. Secondly, the instrumentation sounds the same for a fair majority of the song. The only time it ever changes is right at the beginning, and right at the end. Even then, the change only lasts for a short time. The only parts of it that I do like is the singing, as the growling & normal voice work is balanced, and the guitar strings at the end have that kind of sorrowful beauty you don’t find often in metal.
Tussmörkret (Twilight)(“***”): We conclude Hedniskhjärtad with this song, and it is my absolute favorite off of the album (With Norrland and Stilla being incredibly close seconds). For one thing we have buildup, only this one goes for a buildup with heavy instrumentation being used. Secondly, Andreas Hedlund uses his clearer singing voice throughout a majority of the song (There’s only 2 instances where he decides to growl things out instead, and those moments are short). Finally, Tussmorkret sound like it was released much more recently than the other four songs, thus sounding more relevant, so to speak.
Overall Impression & Rating
If I had a single complaint about this little album, it would be that it’s literarily....little.
With just 5 songs, the amount of material on her is quite slim, and the running time doesn’t help much either (It comes out to 20 Minutes & 24 seconds, if you were curious). With that said, it’s what’s in the songs that makes things shine. While you can find familiar elements of black metal, it how those elements are implemented that creates a nice listening experience. If you can somehow find a physical copy, or a link where you can download Hedniskhjärtad, then I highly suggest you do so.
Vintersorg: Hedniskhjärtad gets a 8.5 to 9 out of 10
See you all next time, when we’ll look at another folk metal band. Until then, stay Otaku!
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Little piece of trivia: Hedniskhjärtad translated means Paganhearted.
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