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...And Oceans - AM GOD
Industrial/Black Metal
Century Media, 2001
9 tracks, 48min31sec
...And Oceans is great. Got that? Okay. I'll be a little biased about this one as it's totally my kinda music (which I regretfully only recently found out), but whatever. I'll try and make clear to you lot why this one is worth buying - or not?
Fact is, this album has been sitting in my mp3 player for almost a full month now, after daily listens. Without a doubt I can tell you this is the most refreshing and energetic stuff to pass my eardrums in half a year. It's all in the mix (pardon the commercial slogan): the simplicity and effectivity of black metal riffs, coupled with electronics that hover between industrial and techno. Furious up-tempo bitches like Esprit de Corps or Postfuturistika, interspersed with more thoughtful and deliberate tracks like Tears Have No Name and Odious&Devious... Plenty of excellent compositions, and joyful versatility.
Between the many emotions the music declaims, there is the emotion of the artists, hidden between the layers of notes. Often remained hidden and otherwise not completely satisfactory, the emotion of the artist on this album is pure joy. The joy to create with such boldness and bravoure, to transcend the mostly cliché thematics of modern extreme metal and do something radical (White Synthetic Noise; refers to use of drugs in a very poetical way), or take something even more cliché just for laughs! (Tears Have No Name; very melodramatic lyrics.)
Most metal purists will write this album off as arty-farty, or progressive wankery, or even commercialised shite. I however invite them to take off their leather jackets and combat shoes, and put on a trendy fluorescent aerobics suit. Art = Evolution!
Favourite Cuts: the whole lot, with the exception of the slightly below par Of Devilish Tongues.
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Borknagar - Borknagar
Folk Black Metal
Malicious Records, 1996 (rerelease by Century Media in 1999 and by Displeased in 2003)
10 Tracks, 44min12sec
There used to be a lot of music that could send shivers down my spine. You know, that odd quivering feeling when you hear a grandiose piece of music. I do not know whether the growth of my metabolism has something to do with it, or that I have just heard too much music for it, but these moments are seldom nowadays. What I do know however, is that Borknagar still manages to do it.
So, I'll be reviewing their self-titled debut album, personally my favourite and a great inspiration in my own music. The entire album is somewhat comparable to other Black Metal with folk influences, and especially Ulver's Bergtatt. Not a great surprise: they share a singer. Wunderkin Garm (also of Arcturus fame) has been called in by guitarist and founder Oystein G. Brun, together with some other well known names as Grim (Immortal, Gorgoroth), Infernus (Gorgoroth) and Ivar Bjornson (Enslaved). What an allstar crew eh?
Borknagar's music is lardered with a love for nature; everything has an immensely epic, poetic grandeur Milton could grow to envy. Listen for example to Ved Steingard and its second part Krigsstev. Both the raw, yet ingeniously melodical Black Metal and the lain-back, deliberate folk strumming are top-notch. The production helps to deliver this too; the typical quality lets through only tantalising hints of brilliant riffs, at just the right moments.
I'd like it very much to be able to give this album some bad criticisms, or I might look like a wuss (I am aware that I am, but nevertheless...). So I choose the keyboard work, which often sounds a little cheap (Tanker Mot Tind). But - and here I go again - these are generally very low in the mix, so nothing to worry about. Yeah, you can guess, this is an album like I want it. Certainly one of the most underestimated albums in its style, which is a shame.
Favourite Cuts: the whole album, but Vintervredets Sjelesang is one of Borknagar's best ever.
