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Music : Nordland Vol.1
Rating: 
- IMMORTAL MUSIC!
Cant speak highly enough of this - basically a one man band project, this is an album that transcends its modest budget to create an epic piece of work. Defined as Viking Metal this tackles the subject with a reverence that only a native Scandinavian could muster. Bands like Manowar from the USA flirt with the genre but cannot reach this level of sincerity. Quorthon, one of Black Metal's founding fathers, leaves the confines of his roots to create a masterpiece of atmosphere & mood. Responsible for all vocals, guitars & bass (not sure about the drums, they could be a drum machine BUT they sound natural) he weaves a series of Wagnerian Metal masterpieces so evocative that you can see the mountains, clouds, ice & dragon boats so beautifully described here!
There are moments of all out thrash and acoustic passages/folkish interludes that would grace the cult folk of The Wicker Man, melodic solos and brutal metallic riffs and symphonic keyboards and choral backing ala Dimmu Borgir. Quorthon invests real emotion & feel into his vocals rarely if ever descending into screams or grunts. The lyrics depict tales of Midgard that could almost be told as Quorthon's personal recollections.
Revel in the sound of horses, streams, thunder and battle - its all sampled here & integrated perfectly into the music. Theres very much a semi-conceptual tone.
The production is decent & overall one can only feel saddened that this most enigmatic of artists had his life cut so short in 2004.
Highlights
PRELUDE - short symphonic instrumental,ominous,almost cinematic.
NORDLAND - sets the standard to come.
RING OF GOLD - Beautiful acoustic chords & haunting vocals.
BROKEN SWORD - Deceptiveley gentle intro and then furious guitar/drums
The albums fastest track.
MOTHER EARTH, FATHER THUNDER - Massive, all conquering, Battle March!
Rating:
- a thoroughly enjoyable metal experience
The thing that first strikes me about this album is how little attention is paid to the amazing title track.This is an amazingly melodic and powerful anthem which,coupled with its instrumental "prelude" surely cements this as the albums best offering.Owning a lot of Bathory's work, i would say that this most certainly features in their(his) top 5 songs. That shouldn't take away anything from the rest of the album though.
Being a concept album, some may avoid this like the plague,but with a master musician like quorthon at the helm,this is an album not to be missed.Songs like "broken sword" and "great hall awaits a fallen brother" bring a welcome reminder of Quorthon's lyrical genius.A must have album.
Best track:As mentioned NORDLAND.
Rating: - The King of Viking Metal Returns!
After a few wild departures into hardcore grunge and death metal in recent years, Bathory makes a return to his most powerful sound...the pagan, Viking-opera style created on 'Blood, Fire Death' and tempered on 'Hammerheart' and 'Twilight'. However, this new album (is it the 1st of several, as the title suggests 'Nordland 1'?) owes more to his later effort 'Blood on Ice', with quieter vocals and a less epic, but still lovingly-structured, sound. There are a few stylistic nods to latter-day Burzum in the music, I think, but this is no bad thing... the most easily accessible track is 'The Broken Sword', a gallopping stormcloud of a song which seems to give a passing hail to Manowar...all in all, a glorious return to that which Bathory does best! Can't wait for the sequel :)
- IMMORTAL MUSIC!Cant speak highly enough of this - basically a one man band project, this is an album that transcends its modest budget to create an epic piece of work. Defined as Viking Metal this tackles the subject with a reverence that only a native Scandinavian could muster. Bands like Manowar from the USA flirt with the genre but cannot reach this level of sincerity. Quorthon, one of Black Metal's founding fathers, leaves the confines of his roots to create a masterpiece of atmosphere & mood. Responsible for all vocals, guitars & bass (not sure about the drums, they could be a drum machine BUT they sound natural) he weaves a series of Wagnerian Metal masterpieces so evocative that you can see the mountains, clouds, ice & dragon boats so beautifully described here!
There are moments of all out thrash and acoustic passages/folkish interludes that would grace the cult folk of The Wicker Man, melodic solos and brutal metallic riffs and symphonic keyboards and choral backing ala Dimmu Borgir. Quorthon invests real emotion & feel into his vocals rarely if ever descending into screams or grunts. The lyrics depict tales of Midgard that could almost be told as Quorthon's personal recollections.
Revel in the sound of horses, streams, thunder and battle - its all sampled here & integrated perfectly into the music. Theres very much a semi-conceptual tone.
The production is decent & overall one can only feel saddened that this most enigmatic of artists had his life cut so short in 2004.
Highlights
PRELUDE - short symphonic instrumental,ominous,almost cinematic.
NORDLAND - sets the standard to come.
RING OF GOLD - Beautiful acoustic chords & haunting vocals.
BROKEN SWORD - Deceptiveley gentle intro and then furious guitar/drums
The albums fastest track.
MOTHER EARTH, FATHER THUNDER - Massive, all conquering, Battle March!
Rating:
- a thoroughly enjoyable metal experienceThe thing that first strikes me about this album is how little attention is paid to the amazing title track.This is an amazingly melodic and powerful anthem which,coupled with its instrumental "prelude" surely cements this as the albums best offering.Owning a lot of Bathory's work, i would say that this most certainly features in their(his) top 5 songs. That shouldn't take away anything from the rest of the album though.
Being a concept album, some may avoid this like the plague,but with a master musician like quorthon at the helm,this is an album not to be missed.Songs like "broken sword" and "great hall awaits a fallen brother" bring a welcome reminder of Quorthon's lyrical genius.A must have album.
Best track:As mentioned NORDLAND.
Rating:
- The King of Viking Metal Returns!After a few wild departures into hardcore grunge and death metal in recent years, Bathory makes a return to his most powerful sound...the pagan, Viking-opera style created on 'Blood, Fire Death' and tempered on 'Hammerheart' and 'Twilight'. However, this new album (is it the 1st of several, as the title suggests 'Nordland 1'?) owes more to his later effort 'Blood on Ice', with quieter vocals and a less epic, but still lovingly-structured, sound. There are a few stylistic nods to latter-day Burzum in the music, I think, but this is no bad thing... the most easily accessible track is 'The Broken Sword', a gallopping stormcloud of a song which seems to give a passing hail to Manowar...all in all, a glorious return to that which Bathory does best! Can't wait for the sequel :)