In that state where you're awake but sensually very numb, the gradual swell of the composition as it adds elements and strips them all back down again is mesmerizing, progressing at such a slow pace that you'd be bored normally, yet attaining a level of detail in the end that outdoes any of the simplistic ambient Burzum material and nestles in next to the best work of Mortiis. I once sat on a long-distance aeroplane listening to 'Det Var en Gang et Menneske' on repeat. The latter style returns on 'Fra Fjelltronen', and could quite easily form a coda to the opener, rounding out the experience with symmetry. That opener also sees the bulk of Satyr's vocal work, whispering delicately like he's doing an ASMR video and then regaling us with something like a pagan monk's ancient bellows, both of which fit the music much better than my descriptions suggest. The epic goes through most of the instruments found on the rest of the album, flutes, brass, piano, woodwinds, percussion, and even acoustic guitar swirling around in controlled bouts of atmosphere building. But if I'd made this album, that's where I'd put it too. I know everyone complains about how lopsided this release feels, and that's because 'Det Var en Gang et Menneske' rolls its bulk out first with half of the scant 33 minute runtime and about 3/4 of the ideas.
#Von graven plus#
If you're at all averse to brief soundbites of nature and the outdoors, plus whatever frog-like instrument is pinging about in 'Opp Under Fjellet Toner en Sang', you might be better off giving this a miss, yet for anyone else the folky medieval music holds a world of charms. Personally, I see Fjelltronen to be a very good complement to the earlier period of Satyricon's output, not least because the aesthetic side of Dark Medieval Times and The Shadowthrone approached the same cultural and philosophical endpoint with a few less samples of northern wind and a few more biting riffs. Perhaps Satyricon lays claim to less infamy than the other standard bearers of the Norwegian second wave, but then again Wongraven was a shorter-lived ambient project than most. As the saying goes, behind every infamous black metal band, there's a short-lived ambient project.
0 kommentar(er)
