The album is sloppy. The notes are sometimes not played in time and sometimes even the "wrong" note is played. It gives the music an unpolished feel, an amateurish feel... and it fits wonderfully. Every misplayed note is quickly corrected much like an apprentice would at a recital. Because of this the entire album has an incredibly welcoming feel to it. There is no judgement here, only a shared love for dungeon synth.
Halvgången is raw. The production is not polished, some of the higher notes have not been dessed for the vinyl pressing and it gives a bit of harshness to the recording... and I love it. It plays together perfectly with the sloppiness. This is completely an amateurs take on keyboard driven music and it shows, but it also gives the album a wonderful mystique to it. A sense that this is an art that has not yet been refined to the point of perfection.
The album is not entirely well thought out. All of the tracks do blend together, but many of the melodies and themes repeat for exceedingly long periods of time. In some sense it almost has a jam session type feel to it, or in this case maybe a minstrel strumming by a fire at night. This again is part of the appeal of the album. This is not a refined piece of art, but rather one that is being crafted right in front of us as we listen.
The album also only has a few melodies throughout, on only a few instruments. All of this without much reverb on the instruments... it has the potential to sound hollow but somehow it doesn't. It's here where the magic of Halvgången happens. All of these items are strikes against an album normally, but here they are strength added to strength. This is an anti-gatekeeping type record, everyone is welcome. For if a lone minstrel improvising by a fire at night can make it onto a record then truly anyone can.
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