Valhalla
V Gimnakh I Proklyatiyakh
[Ketzer/Beverina]
What would you say about a Scandinavian band singing in, say, Norwegian about
Northern mythology? Sounds fairly credible, right? Now, how about a Swedish
band singing in English about Valhalla (hint-hint)? I know, you don't get
more credible than that. And now, how about a Ukrainian band singing in
Russian about Vikings? Here, I am sure, is where opinions will diverge.
Well, here comes mine.
I guess I started beating the drums and ringing the bells too early for this band. I liked the "Loss Of Benediction" demo (one song from which is included here as a bonus track). It was a good debut - a successful combination of black metal fury and Viking sensibility, so I was nurturing high hopes for this full-length. Although the band progressed with this album, I didn't find myself to be enthralled by it.
They tried to move even closer to the Valhalla that Viking-period Bathory were able to create. To do that, they dropped a significant portion of their black metal influence, bringing in an epic approach instead, with very long songs, pompous posture and even more emphasis on keyboards. The problem is that their overall style, including their simplistic song writing, remained the same. It worked quite well when the band were writing more concise songs, but when they stretched it to the epic proportions, they ended up with a bigger load than they could carry, and boredom inexorably started creeping in. The band still possesses enough talent to create some worth while moments on the first half of the album, but then they just lose it. The songs become dull, begin to drag, and instead of creating triumphant, war-like atmosphere, they start putting you to sleep. To top it off, the band's shameless, seemingly very serious yet pretty much superficial, Viking obsession brought in a "cheesiness" factor, which makes them an easy target for all sorts of sarcastic remarks. They actually sing "la-lala-lalalalala" at the end of the album's opening track.
Final resolution: A Viking fetishist should check it out, but I wouldn't recommend it to the general mass of black metal fans.
© 2000 boris
I guess I started beating the drums and ringing the bells too early for this band. I liked the "Loss Of Benediction" demo (one song from which is included here as a bonus track). It was a good debut - a successful combination of black metal fury and Viking sensibility, so I was nurturing high hopes for this full-length. Although the band progressed with this album, I didn't find myself to be enthralled by it.
They tried to move even closer to the Valhalla that Viking-period Bathory were able to create. To do that, they dropped a significant portion of their black metal influence, bringing in an epic approach instead, with very long songs, pompous posture and even more emphasis on keyboards. The problem is that their overall style, including their simplistic song writing, remained the same. It worked quite well when the band were writing more concise songs, but when they stretched it to the epic proportions, they ended up with a bigger load than they could carry, and boredom inexorably started creeping in. The band still possesses enough talent to create some worth while moments on the first half of the album, but then they just lose it. The songs become dull, begin to drag, and instead of creating triumphant, war-like atmosphere, they start putting you to sleep. To top it off, the band's shameless, seemingly very serious yet pretty much superficial, Viking obsession brought in a "cheesiness" factor, which makes them an easy target for all sorts of sarcastic remarks. They actually sing "la-lala-lalalalala" at the end of the album's opening track.
Final resolution: A Viking fetishist should check it out, but I wouldn't recommend it to the general mass of black metal fans.
© 2000 boris