Style: Viking metal, black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: War, violence within nature and man
Thoughts: It's amazing how much one member of a band can make a difference. I've tried to get into Thyrfing for many years prior to this release and could never quite get there. The music either did not grab me or the vocals were off, or something else prevented me from truly enjoying it. Hels Vite changed all that.
This is the debut of vocalist Jens Ryden, formerly of Naglfar. To say that the music takes on an entirely new dimension with him on vocals is a bit of a disservice. This is more like a steroid injection of the highest quality. The band not only sounds renewed, they sound stronger than they ever have in the past.
Jens' voice has a bite to it that is highly uncommon in metal. Almost every extreme metal band uses some form of harsh vocals, but very few use them as effectively as Thyrfing does on Hels Vite. They have a venom to them, they are vitriol taken audio form.
Let's take a closer look at the second song Från stormens öga (from the eye of the storm) for a prime example of how well this works. The song starts off with a slow and grinding riff that is eventually built up by both vocals and keyboards. The song stays the same pace but as the music gets more intense the vocals go from a calmer whisper/growl/howl to this raging beast rabid with bloodlust. By the time the chorus comes in there are small breaks in the voice that only add to the untamed and unhinged nature of the vocals. It's like he's losing all control as the rage is building up inside him. It's incredibly emotive and an example I will give to many people who state that you can't get any type of emotion with harsh vocals. I beg to differ.
The second song is only one of seven on the album. Each one of them has moments of brilliance both musically and vocally. This is easily the band's best effort and it's going to take a momentous effort by them (or really any other Viking metal band) to top this. One of the absolute pinnacles of the Viking metal genre.
Written October 5th 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment