VINTERSORG may be small, but they are mighty. The central heartbeat behind this band is ANDREAS HEDLUND- composer, keyboardist, vocalist and guitarist. Accompanying him on guitar is Mattias Marklund.This Swedish duo has released nine studio albums to date, since 1994. You may have seen Hedlund, who goes by the nickname, “Vintersorg,” fronting other bands such as: OTYG, BORKNAGAR, HAVAYOTH, FISSION, CRONIAN, and WATERCLIME.
In the world of classical music, my music teachers have encouraged me to always look up the translations of any non-English words in my music. Knowing all translations written into music gives a musician a much better idea of what kind of emotions they wish to portray. Thankfully, Napalm Records provided me with rough translations to the song titles for Orkan. The band name itself means “Winter Sorrow.”
The album titles read as follows in English:
1. “Ice Ages” (Istid)
2. “Out of Stardust We’re Born” (Ur Stjarnstoft Ar Vi Komna)
3. “The Polar Night” (Polarnatten)
4. “The Mire” (Myren)
5. “Hurricane” (Orkan)
6. “Mercy of the Ocean” (Havets Nad)
7. “Northern Light Visions” (Norrskenssyner)
8. “Prisioner of the Primal Weather” (Urvadersfangen)
Hedlund did a great job portraying the song titles through music. I have always appreciated how well-written Scandinavian metal can sound as frigid as the landscape it was written in. Orkan has a tasteful hybrid of progressive metal, folk metal, and a sprinkling of black metal. If you’re a nerd for complicated music like me, then this album is the one for you. Vocals soar above intricate instrumentals, and the keyboard playing is remarkably good. Every song on the album brings a new musical idea. There is no filler music on the album, and my ear was always surprised at what musical idea was going to happen next. With the unforeseen number of delays seen in releasing Wintersun’s album Time,Orkan is the album that could give Time a run for it’s money. My personal favorite track on the album is “Prisoner of the Primal Weather (Urvadersfangen)” and the beginning of that track has been stuck in my head all week. The only thing that would make this album better is if it came with a cute Swedish boyfriend and a vacation in Stockholm.
The Bottom Line: Orkan is the album that will challenge your folk metal collection.
The thing about funeral doom is that it takes some facet of the sheer terror, bleakness, and beauty of existence and stretches it out into a swelling, breathing mass of pure sonic depressiveness and introspection. As for nautic doom, the sole purveyor of which seems to be Germany’s AHAB, with the possible addition of SEAHAG, it strives for the same effect, but replacing outright despondency and depression with epic tales of nautical beasts and seafaring melancholy that might well be interpreted as metaphors for the unrelenting loneliness, travails and isolation of modern life. AHAB’s latest full-length, The Giant, follows 2009’s The Divinity of Oceans with another mournful, slow, and doomy effort, crawling along like a man whose lungs are filled with salt water, the last warm touch of euphoria and the grim realization of the end striking all at once.
AHAB’s music conveys the subtle yet massive, tempestuous power of the seas. Tracks like “Further South” come on slow and unassuming, calm yet despondent, with a clean, ringing guitar tone and thoughtful sung vocals that look into the endless deep blue that gives way to black. The sound is expansive, moving into low, croaking gutturals and bludgeoning, distorted sludge and chug—the danger lurking just below the surface. Still, it remains introspective, returning to the mournful clean vocals, like OPETH on a doom trip mixed with the almost subsonic gutturals of LOSS.
“Aeons Collapse,” at the long end of AHAB’s spectrum at over 12 minutes in length, though most songs hover around the ten minute mark, begins with haunting whispers that draw into a tortured yell, like a lost man calling out for rescue, trapped within endless time falling in on itself. The shouting becomes half-sung in places as chords ring out, bent and dissonant, basic but powerful. AHAB utilizes a strong economy of riffs. If something is worth saying, it’s worth taking your time to say it—maximum impact, minimum waste, even in an epic. The glassy clean guitar tone plays off the guttural lows that echo as though captured in a subsurface cavern, while minimalist lead work adds depth. The sonic quality is pristine, and the plodding drums are given room to hiss and boom because the room is there in the music’s slow, viscous crawl.
There’s a touch of MY DYING BRIDE in the clean vocals as well, as can be heard on “Deliverance.” Then “Antarctica the Polymorphess” slogs through the mire of the depths, taking us from dark to light, bottom to surface, with a song as a story of tragedy, horror, and lament that is hugely moving. Everything is given ample space to develop, as it could be three to four minutes before the vocals are even brought in. “Fathoms Deep” brings more of the same, with a passage not unlike the Twilight Zone theme at the song’s halfway point, and another take on the guttural vocals—a vibrating growl rather than the usual croak.
Folk harmonies take over at the beginning of the title track, the album closer, which captures the slow swell of the oceans, desolation, the unknown, with glistening clean guitar highs like sun reflecting off dappled waters moving into slow, sludgy lows. The Giant is music to lose yourself in the infinite possibilities of Challenger Deep, or to close your eyes with the headphones on and contemplate the slow descent to the Marianas Trench. There’s a long way down to go, and the nautic doom of AHAB plots the endless course.
HUNTRESS is currently located in Highland Park, California, and has been signed for less than a year. However, they have shared the stage with several high profile acts within metal. HUNTRESS has previously appeared alongside TURISAS, ALESTORM, HOLY GRAIL, and DRAGONFORCE. Front woman JILL JANUS was a Manhattan DJ for years before helping create HUNTRESS. Janus is joined by lead guitarist Blake Meahl, rhythm guitarist Ian Alden, Drummer Carl Wierzbicky, and bassist Eric Harris. Harris is the former bassist for SKELETONWITCH, and Wierzbicky is formerly of DARKBLACK, while Meahl and Alden played for Southern California band PROFESSOR.
As someone who spends way too much time on the feminist blog Jezebel, I was curious to see what they “were all about.” Looking at the promo photos of Janus makes it obvious that she is supposed to be the entrée of the band. The other members of the band are her side items. They are the lukewarm baked potato, a piece of Wonder Bread, slightly wilted iceberg lettuce, pie with Pillsbury crust. The members of HUNTRESS have been interviewed as saying they define themselves as “straight up heavy metal,” but, in actuality, they are straight up repetition. Once you’ve heard the title track, “Spell Eater”, you have a good idea about what the rest of the album is about. ”Spell Eater” is the first track, and, without a doubt, the “radio single” of the band. It is catchy and energetic, with fast tempi and chugging instrumentals. In fact, HUNTRESS likes chugging guitars so much that they included them on almost every other song. If the guitars weren’t chugging, they were tremolo picking in duel harmonies. The drumming got the job done, and that was it. ”Senicide” follows the title track and contains another orderly musical bundle of a catchy intro, verses, and a chorus. I know that vocalists have certain keys that they prefer to sing in, but HUNTRESS used the key of D minor on every song on the album. By the time one gets to “The Tower”, all of the musical ideas are repeated one more time, because why not? It could be concluded that they have no plans on sounding like the next OPETH, but the variety of tempi, rhythm, and instrumental technique in Spell Eater was too narrow. According to their website bio, Janus was an opera singer during her teens, but her vocals nowadays are far from ideal. As someone who has taken pedagogy classes in classical voice, I found her voice strained; my larynx hurt for her. It may be very difficult for Janus to continue doing vocals as a touring band several years from now. However, I must applaud them for their energy level. Though I would not go out of my way to listen to this album, it made a decent soundtrack to my morning run. Videos of the band reveal that they would be a fun live band to see. Thrown into a tour package, I would find myself saying “why not?” and bobbing my head along silently to their set.
The bottom line: HUNTRESS has sparing moments of catchy songwriting, but doesn’t exhibit the creativity to make this an album something to revisit years later.
Long running Goth metal masters MOONSPELL have an ambitious new release which is the double album Alpha Noir/Omega White out on Napalm Records. Drummer Miguel (Mike) Gaspar caught Metal Army up to speed on why it took so long to make the new record, how the band approaches recording, their love of Peter Steele (RIP) and TYPE O NEGATIVE, other influences- metal or not and the state of the metal scene in the bands’ native home of Portugal.
MAA: Please tell us about the writing and recording of Alpha Noir/Omega White?
MG: Many thanks for the interview let’s do it brother ! This album was very different from all albums in the past due to the time, four years apart from the Night Eternal. We never took so long to put out an album. The success of the previous album also kept us on the road quite a bit. So we did not want to rush things and just let things flow naturally. In the begging process we had no idea we would release a double album. In reality this was more of a concept that would enrich our composing skills dividing them in half. We would write heavy songs on some days an others would go more into the Gothic style more melodic elements. Benny Ritcher came from Germany three times during the four years to help us out with all arrangements. Never had worked with him and found a new understanding. He really felt like a member of the band with a lot of enthusiasm to work until late hours just to get the songs right. It was strange to work with someone younger than us never happened before. He was like a little brother full of talent and skills that impressed us and contributed a lot to this magnum album.
MAA: What is the concept behind each part of Alpha Noir/Omega White?
MG: Alpha is more like a battle until the end in an arena full of blood, passion and determination. In the arena there is no time to play around our you’ll be killed. You fight for your honor and family paying respect to all those that have fallen before you. This was inspirational for a heavy dark album we wanted no compromises, just the best metal that we could accomplish. With Omega it’s a different story it is the time for the warrior to recover his mind and body. To bathe cleaning the wounds and the soul. To eat and drink celebrating the victories. A time to think and remember one’s family and loved ones, to salute all good things and pleasures so that one day we shall fight again.
MAA: Was the wealth of material the reason of the four year break between albums?
MG: Many reasons took us to have this decision. For one the Night Eternal tours were crazy we travelled all over the word making new fans everywhere and also welcoming back the old. We just had to do all the shows it is for us the main reason bands should exist! You have to do the best shows possible, it is the ultimate experience like no other. There was also the question of which label we would end up on but that became something that we did not want to worry about and just did the albums freely until the end before signing to anyone. We were confident and just wanted to release our best work to date. The acoustic project we did in Portugal called SOMBRA also took a bit of our time. We were 13 people on stage with Cellos, female vocalists and percussionists. It ended up even giving us a push for the Omega White album. One other reason that come to mind is just the fact that we make twenty years of MOONSPELL this year and it would be our ninth full length album. There was no reason to rush things the music could not be compromised so we said the hell with it just take our time.
MAA: It’s been said that the Omega White album was in part inspired by TYPE O NEGATIVE. What about them is particularly inspiring for the band?
MG: Everything we were huge fans from the begging of our career. They were the few bands that incorporated different styles in their music. Going from Hardcore, to Gothic sounds. The deep vocals would make your knees tremble and the lyrics were so intense and dark. They were everything from the street attitude with violence to romantic and sensual atmospheres to emotions that would comfort you on those terrible days that you, yourself wanted to slash your wrists. The identification with this band was brutal in the early years and to our luck did one of their biggest tours in Europe in `96. We became good friends and especially Pete was always on our side, helping us out in everything we needed. He left a deep mark in us. The tribute to him and TYPE O will always feel weak compared to the reality of what a divine band they where and the many that followed them. They will never be forgotten in hearts and in our music. Salute Pete, he was a true gentleman, we miss him a lot and having a song dedicated to him and the past just helps us cope with this tragedy. Hope he´s smiling somewhere and we will jam one day!
MAA: The band worked once again with Tue Madson producing and mixing. What does he bring to the process that appeals to the band more than another producer or producing yourselves?
MG: The pure calmness of his persona is so important to band that is from south Europe and can get a bit edgy and confusing at time. We have no real tradition of metal in Portugal so we had to learn for our selves and many times the hard way. Tue understands us very well and always gives 200% to make sure we are comfortable and satisfied with the results. He has no big ego and really just wants to get the bands idea and sound to the fans. He himself is a huge Heavy Metal fan and played guitar in his own projects. Also, a little bit older making him more like a big brother. Family is the key word when we feel that kind of environment I think we do our best stuff at least at this time in life. We have enough chaos and excitement all year round on the road. Can´t wait to see what we do next together. He just is a wizard with the sound and mixes all our elements without it getting confusing, he can make everything just sound spot on!
MAA: Who are some of the heavier bands inspiring you these days?
MG: For me personally I’m just a huge fan of the 80s. As a kid VAN HALEN and MOTLEY CRUE were bands I loved but as a teenager I got into bands like MORBID ANGEL, BATHORY, KING DIAMOND, SLAYER, METALLICA, DARKTHRONE, EMPEROR, ROOT, CANDLEMASS, but also Gothic stuff like SISTERS OF MERCY, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM and of course, TYPE O NEGATIVE. So really from Hard Rock to Death and black metal to avant-garde, the name before Goth. I just absorbed so many dark styles of music it just showed with our era in the 1990s were bands like us mixed the styles. TIAMAT, SAMAEL, MOONSPELL, AMORPHIS, PARADISE LOST, LACUNA COIL, THE GATHERING we were all fans and at the same time influencing each other. The use of keyboards and female vocals or just poetic song writing was all a bit new for us and that what excited us the most. It was new and part of our generation. DEAD CAN DANCE was also a band that had so much world music involved it just touched us in a special way, incorporating something so distant in a new form of metal. So I still listen to all this these days, it´s our core inspiration and I think always will be! I have a hard time listening to new stuff, I think this is normal. I will always give a listen to new material from friends or even fans, but it never really sticks like the bands you heard when you were young!
MAA: At twenty years-old, is their a moment in time that stands out to you as the biggest highlight for the band so far?
MG: I would have to say the release of Irreligious in 96. It was our first taste of mainstream success . That album opened many doors in our career and to think that only three years before we released our first demo called Anno Satanae! It was all to quick to even understand and still takes us a bit to recall the reason for so much attention from a band that played very underground black metal from the south of europe. The odds of us being on tour with major bands our album in the German charts, winning new comer of the year in Finland the massive record sails, promotion fans going crazy at shows for us was just unbelievable! It really feels like your living a dream. It all took a lot of work, sweat, pain tears and blood to get there but when we were on the Dynamo main stage back in 97 , before there were Wacken’s, Hellfest etc. playing for 80.000 people, we new that we came a long way and it was all worth it! We even did shows with KISS during there reunion tour with the make up in the 90′s. Their production was insane and we got along really well, they gave us all the conditions to do a good show! But KISS fans are tough so are SLAYER’s’ to that matter, but for some reason we always win them over!
MG: Many thanks, hope to see you soon on the road! Keep it Metal!
(Thanks to Mike Gaspar, MOONSPELL and Napalm Records)
As the old cliche goes, change is good for you. Sometimes this is true and other times the consequences are disastrous. Irregardless of the outcome change often brings unintended results both positive and otherwise. HATESPHERE has epitomized the idea of positive change bringing forth the best out of a tough situation time and time again. This Danish thrash and death outfit has continued to grow strong despite some rocky steps along the way, always mindful to not stray far from their strengths. They have had many personnel changes over the past decade with only mastermind guitarist Peter “Pepe” Hansen being the constant factor. The current incarnation may yet be the best in their history, which speaks volumes as to why The Great Bludgeoning could be the finest album of their career.
Charging right out of the gate with the aggressive thrasher “The Killer”, the effect of the new lineup is immediately felt. Full of straightforward riffing and great energy, the track is really hot. New lead vocalist Esben “Esse” Hansen (AS WE FIGHT) brings a lot of fire to the role and some stellar voicings. His typical gruff vocals are not far off from hardcore, but when he switches things up it really turns up the juice. His guttural lows are terrific and his high screams are also quite strong. The song stays fairly even keel feeling until a mid-song break down comes in with some cool licks. There are also several cool double tracked gang vocals. “Venom” begins with some strummed Spanish influenced guitar and some sleepy melodies. This turns into a slow, grinding jam with some more cool melodies. The thrash meets melo-death of the rest of the song reminds me a lot of THE HAUNTED which is a big influence on the band. Drummer Mike Park (MERCENARY) kills the beats with his furious pounding hits. I like that a lot of his drumming is on point and he doesn’t overplay, ever. He doesn’t over do double-bass drumming, giving him a stand alone performance out of the box from many current drummers in metal. Peter Hansen just seems to churn our riff after riff and along with Jakob Nyholm, they make a great team. Meanwhile Esben turns in another strong performance vocally. The power groove tempos of the middle of the track are a nice change of pace and still maintain the high catchy riff factor. “Smell of Death” is a rip-snorting jam full of chaos and down-picked jammage. Again, it is just an orgy of guitar playing and true headbanging glory. There is also a soulful, bluesy solo full of double stops and pull-offs galore. “Decayer” begins with a the sound of a needle stuck on a old phonograph (your parents had one, look it up punk). However, quickly the track lifts off with more frenetic chords and beats. This song also has my favorite lyrics on the album and another good guitar solo. The moody interlude “The Wail of My Threnode” builds up with a mini- guitar army leading into the next track. A fierce whammy bar dive-bomb acting as a cue, “Resurrect With a Vengeance” takes flight with slow, jarring chromatic chords. This might be my favorite track of them all for all its deliberate brutality and more fine vocal acumen. The band does the slow burn type song really well and it makes for a nice contrast with their faster material. Other top tracks include the title cut, the thrashing “Need to Kill” and the melo-death inspired closer “Devil in Your Own Hell”. HATESPHERE prefer to murder the listener with the tried and true rather than get too fancy and out of the box. Similar in quality to VADER, this band stays the course. As the other over done cliche states: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
Despite changes HATESPHERE makes a bold statement, stays true.
Over the course of four full lengths now, Germany’s Van Canto have pioneered their own unique style of ‘a capella metal’-five singers and one drummer with no other instruments-to a surprising amount of success.
Far more than a curiosity or passing fad, this admittedly odd group-who, let’s face it, could have ONLY been born ‘n bred in Germany-actually make this frankly bizarre concept work for them, and work in spades. The real key here is that Van Canto know how to structure their songs optimally for the human voice, utilizing percussive vocalizations to simulate the driving feel of bass and guitars without the use of any strings whatsoever.
The combined efforts of female vocalist Inga Scharf and the four male compatriots-who handle bass, lead, and high/low guitars (including solos!), respectively-are practically seamless, resulting in a far more enjoyable listen than anyone could possibly imagine…serious, this has to be experienced at least once, if only for curiosity’s sake. Whether or not Van Canto possess any staying power really depends on personal taste, however, as the songwriting of Break the Silence is still very much rooted in the Blind Guardian/Rage school of power metal traditionalism.
Break the Silence also continues the band’s tradition of cover songs-having indulged in Metallica, Maiden and Grave Digger tunes on prior LPs-by including Manowar, Sabaton and Alice Cooper jams into the mix, cementing Van Canto’s place within underground metal’s strangest, yet most original corner.
Swedish goth metallers DRACONIAN have returned from a three year layoff to present their newest opus for the dismal and heavyhearted. On their new album they have crafted an hour long epic with the end of times in mind. Based on the recent hysteria about the supposed biblical rapture last month it turns out this album is not just timely, but profound as well. This definitely one of the bands you want playing the last concert at the end times although I suspect we are a long way from seeing that day (read: never).
The album opens with “The Drowning Age” which is a blaze of metal guitars, sinewy leads, sweet melodies and in general solid goth-rock overtones. Anders Jacobsen’s gruesome cement in the lungs vocals punctuate the track early on until his counterpart, Lisa Johannson joins in. Her beautiful, often double tracked vocals emanate an angelic quality and dominate a lot the the album’s finest moments. Combined they make for a potent duo and as a band they were doing the “two-headed vocalists” in this manner long before many of their more popular peers had the idea. The middle section is mournful and sad with Johannson adding even more melodicism. Johan Ericson plays some amazing leads here as well, just as he has on every album. It’s a pretty epic affair and it is only the start of the album. Next comes “The Last Hour of Ancient Sunlight” which is a slow dirge. It is really quite heavy until the classical string section (programmed, not live) come in during the middle and adds even more emotive qualities. This is the first track where you hear Andres Karlsson’s deft touch on the keyboards and he is quite impressive filling up sonic spaces. “End of the Rope” follows and is more uptempo with droning guitars and some cool tribal drumming parts courtesy of Jerry Torstensson. The surprise comes when the marching beat finds you entranced by the intricate little ear candy parts and the head nodding beats. Once again Jacobsen and Johannson are top notch at what they do. A haunting single piano line leads the song to its somber end. “Elysian Night” is a song many of the pop minded so called symphonic or gothic metal bands wish they could pull off. Shifting tempos and styles, the track has the maturity and sensibility of a veteran band with a lush orchestration that belies this few musicians. Jacobsen kills it when his vocals of death and desolation fly in. “Deadlight” is another crushing tearjerker for those contemplating the end of their own life and all life as we know it. Other tracks of import are “Dead World Assembly”, “A Phantom Dissonance” and “The Death of Hours”. In DRACONIAN we have a band that isn’t trying to break any new ground or reinvent themselves, but stays true to themselves. They consistently churn out quality music with a conscious desire to create both artistry and drama. You have to respect that.
Although 2008′s Nordlys was a solid follow-up to this Norwegian band’s Where Twilight Dwells debut, this third effort feels like a much stronger, more focused opus.
The Metamorphosis Melody is, by all accounts, where Midnattsol should have ventured musically on their sophomore effort, capturing much more of the plaintive, pagan melody found on their forlorn debut than the comparatively generic, dulcet sounds of Nordlys.
Lead singer Carmen Elise Espanaes-sister of Liv Kristine, singer of Leaves Eyes and all around hot babe du nord-leads the charge here, sounding profoundly powerful and comfortable as frontwoman. It’s hard to believe that this is the same Carmen Espanaes who, at such a young age, joined her sibling’s musical journey on Where Twilight Dwells-not to mention stealing the hearts of hapless metallers-yet here she is: commanding a band of strong ‘n smart metal musicians, and whose patience/perseverance has paid off in a big way.
Indeed, The Metamorphosis Melody might even eclipse Twilight as a defining musical statement for Midnattsol, an engaging listen which manages to be both beauty and beast, melancholy and massive in its metal intent. By far the band’s hardest statement in terms of guitar work and aggression, Espanaes’ vocals nonetheless command the stage with seductive beauty, fragile grace and the strong charisma which apparently runs so deep in her family tree.
While this sort of semi-gothic, female fronted metal will also be somewhat of a niche genre, Midnattsol’s latest is a convincing example of the genre placed in capable hands.
Although there is probably a small contingent of truly dedicated Kampfar fans out there, the lion’s share of black metal fans probably show this long-running project more disinterest than anything else, with mainman Dolk having been cranking out similar-sounding Norse-core for what seems like ages.
Unfortunately, Mare is not really an exception to this rule, evoking more yawns than screams within its workmanlike approach to frosty, Nordic blackness. These days, it takes a bit more than snow-capped mountainsides and mid-paced tremelo picking to truly make one’s mark upon the heavily crowded corpse-pain scene, yet Mare seems to ignore this fact, delivering more of the same, numbing BM we’ve come to expect from Dolk and Co.
Although not exactly execrable in essense, Mare doesn’t exactly hark back to black metal’s golden age, either, instead reminding the listener exactly why they listen to exciting bands like Watain and Nachtmystium these days, instead of Kampfar’s boring, stylistic retread. Even when Kampfar was up and coming, such snoozers as 1995′s self-titled EP or 1997′s Mellom Skogkledde Aaser LP didn’t offer much hope that the band would ever amount to much more than also-rans within the scene.
If anything, Mare simply reaffirms this fact for a new generation of listeners, proving that traditionalism isn’t exactly always a good thing when it comes to the busy world of black metal.
Although this Austrian power metal collective started off fairly strong with their 2007 debut, Words Untold and Dreams Unlived, the quintet seemed to lost the plot a bit with 2008′s Fallen Sanctuary, a comparatively more gray and unmemorable outing.
Luckily for Serenity, Death & Legacy regains some lost ground, perhaps even eclipsing their debut in terms of songwriting and legitimately epic storytelling.
First and foremost, lead singer Georg Neuhauser commands the charge here, striding confidently in his mission to make these songs his own. Death & Legacy possesses its fair share of dynamics, and each song bristles with both heaviness AND melody; a welcomed change from power metal’s frilly, ineffectual behavior as of late.
The guitar work of Thomas Buchberger assists greatly in this mission, sounding meaty and lively within the album’s grand, sweeping song scale. Buckberger’s leads are never obnoxious in their shred-power, instead serving each song with the emotional punch necessary to make the impact of such music lasting.
Elsewhere, the keyboards and backing vocals of Mario Hirzinger also seem to know their place, and don’t step upon the toes of either Buckberger or Neuhauser. This instrumental trinity joins the bevy of guest female vocalists-including Amanda Somerville and members from Delain and Sirenia-in making sure Death & Legacy gets its point across during the critical moments.
While it could be leveled that Serenity is Austria’s answer to Sonata Arctica, the truth is that Death & Legacy is better than anything said Finns have released since Winterheart’s Guild, so why not give this one a chance?
