Style: Viking metal/black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: A continuation of the legacy started by Bathory
Thoughts: Bathory is one of my favorite musical projects ever. So much so that the only tattoo I've ever gotten is of the Bathory goat head. The world was a little bit worse when Quorthon died. In his absence many bands have tried to carry the torch of his musical legacy, but few have done so as well as Moonsorrow.
Moonsorrow's debut is a surprisingly mature foray into the viking metal field. While black metal is a huge influence, the primary driver is viking metal with all it's glory. The black metal primarily is seen in the vocals and various blast beat driven sections. The rest however is steeped in the glories of viking metal.
Mouth harps? Yes they are here. Accordions? They are here as well. Epic soundscapes? Yes, they are basically the driving force of the album. It's hard for me to believe that this is a debut album, it feels way more refined and developed than most bands at this stage in their careers.
Perhaps the best representation of this is the second song on the album: Köyliönjärven jäällä (Pakanavedet II. The song starts out with a huge chugging riff accompanied by a mouth harp. As the song progresses the guitars open up into full chords and an accordion is played as a complimentary instrument. As the song matures the band really starts to bring in layer after layer of keyboards and guitars resulting in an absolutely massive sound.
This is essentially the blueprint for the entire album. Create a basic structure at the beginning of the song, build that up through a combination of riffs and then continue to add layer upon layer until the song is overwhelming to the listener... then do it all again.
Moonsorrow would continue to go on to release a discography that is one of the best in metal. This is only the beginning, and oh what a glorious beginning it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment