29 March 2010

3/23/10

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23 March 2010

Damn it

I said I'd update this more often, didn't I? Well, tonight's playlist will be up upon its conclusion but in the meanwhile, here's a review for Thyrfing's "Farsotstider" that I wrote over summer:


“Farsotstider” translates to “times of plague”, and such a title couldn’t be more appropriate for Thyrfing’s fourth release. There’s a decidedly dark atmosphere on this album-one that’s sinister, unrestrained and chaotic, calling to mind such a plague that strikes at random and kills without warning, a chaotic evil rather than a calculated one. Such a tone comes as a marked change from Thyrfing’s earlier works of Viking glory and bombast, and one would be led at first to think that they’re yet another traditionally “upbeat” band releasing their “heaviest and darkest yet”™ to garner support from a less exuberant-minded crowd-After all, they already started this sound on the preceding album Vansinnesvisor. But the attempts at this new sound are not slapdash-they fucking nail it. Indeed, Vansinnesvisor is often hailed as Thyrfing’s masterpiece, as the changes in style and substance were most dramatic when compared to their earlier work. While Farsotstider doesn’t have as drastic of a change, one shouldn’t be quick to write it off, as the atmosphere and emotion here are so meticulously crafted that it easily outdoes its comparably tame predecessor.

Such a pretentious and wordy buildup should damn well merit a deserving album, and Farsotstider lives up to it. The album opens with a lot of piss and vinegar, starting with the deliciously unsubtle “Far åt Helvete” (meaning “Go to Hell!”) As if that title alone wasn’t enough to convince us that the days of Valhalla-this and Asgard-that were over, lead singer Thomas Väänänen’s maniacal shriek at the song’s intro dispels any further traces of the band’s musical past. His vocals alone are one of the most surprising and enjoyable things about this album-while Vansinnesvior’s yells and shrieks marked a change in his singing from the growly rasps of the past, Farsotstider showcases him sounding absolutely psychotic. Every word is spewed (and honestly, this is one of the few times when a singer actually merits the word “spewed”) out in a sharp, heavy performance that’s very memorable. The instruments shortly follow suit-there’s a discordant riff at the beginning of “Jag Spår Fördärv” and some bombastic, staccato strings that open the title track.

After having the maniacally demented vibe sealed into place with these three, I was ready on first listen of Farsotstider for the remaining album to be equally visceral. But “Höst”, “Själavrak”, and “Elddagjämning” threw me for a loop, as they’re slower-paced and more forlorn than the abrasive openers. They even sounded somewhat plain at first, and I was about to write off the album as only halfway-successful. But repeated listens eventually bought a different view into place: These songs are not the “crazy evil” type I’ve been rambling about so far, but speak more of a sorrowful, tragedy-spawned madness-Bringing images of someone who’s sanity and goodwill have fled from the ravages of the plague rather than the plague itself. (Thomas’ mournful screams on the chorus of “Höst” are possibly the best example.) It’s these dueling emotions that make Farsotstider such a satisfying album, as they show the band not willing to sit on their laurels after having mastered just one type of atmosphere.

And atmospheric it is. The other thing I didn’t catch on my first several listens was just how wide and intricate a variety of keyboards have been spread about. They’re certainly easy to miss at first glance, seeing how as they’re not carrying the melody and blasting in your face like they were on Valdr Galga. The subtlety of the keys certainly makes for a striking dichotomy with the bluntness of the guitars and vocals. Yet they always spring up at the right moment-for instance, the strings creating a climax at 1:13 in “Höst”, and a bombastic marching tune at the opening of “Själavrak.” Yet they don’t work alone-other instruments pop up from time to time, like a melancholic dueling piano/accordion melody at the end of “Elddagjämning.” Thankfully, Thyrfing doesn’t fall prey to the “buried guitars” that so many of their peers do, remaining high in the mix and ripping out with some rather unusual-sounding riffs-after the chorus of “Höst” and towards the end of “Själavrak”, to name a few. Truth be told, one of the album’s few faults lies in the guitars-there are some times during songs where they’ll sort of amble around aimlessly during a bridge between a more intense or atmospheric passage, although such occurrences are relatively infrequent. The other problem being that despite the constant instrumental innovativeness, the songs themselves are all slightly above mid-tempo in speed, and thus at times seem just a touch repetitive in structure. Such concerns, however, remain minor when viewing the album as a whole.

“Baldersbålet” and “Tiden Läker Intet” bring back the aggression and madness for a solid ending, the latter being my favorite as it blends the best of all the previously ranted-about emotions into one climactic offering. The pounding strings (backed by one of the faster drum lines in the album) at the beginning sound downright malicious, and there’s a cool “fade-out/fade-in” between two melodies at the end. The last thirty seconds have an ominous tremolo sound, as if saying “it’s not done yet…”

I’m sure my wordiness has almost worn out its welcome, so I’ll leave the conclusion straight and to-the-point. Farsotstider is an incredibly complex and varied album, with a dark atmosphere and enough innovations and randomness to show that Thyrfing wasn’t just messing around with Vansinnesvisor. Pardon the hokeyness, but this is one plague you’ll want to catch.