Vintersorg – Till Fjälls del II

[schema type=”review” name=”Vintersorg – Till Fjälls del II” description=”Label: Napalm Records” author=”Basak Günel” pubdate=”2017-06-30″ ]

Vintersorg is one of the bands that comes to mind when we are talking about the viking/black metal genre. Hailing from Sweden, these legends have been active since 1994… so they have come a long way. The band’s style changed over the years; the focus is indeed on black and viking metal but they are not afraid to experiment so their style has even expanded to progressive and avantgarde metal. The band’s latest album “Till Fjälls del II” is out and it is definitely interesting for certain reasons.

While some bands want to move forward and maybe experiment with each record, these viking/black metal legends decided to do something interesting this time and take us to the old times… specifically to 1998! The die-hard Vintersorg fans know that the band released their first full-length “Till fjälls” in 1998 so as can be seen from the name, “Til Fjälls del II” is a sequel. I am not the biggest follower and fan of the band but as a fan of this genre, I gotta say I was skeptical about this idea but I changed my mind as soon as I span the record.

As with the typical sound of Vintersorg, one highlight I love is how the band manages to blend everything so perfectly. Harsh & clean vocals fitting perfectly with each other, the “black metal” melodies taking us back to the old times and I gotta admit… spinning the record over and over again made me realize how much I miss winter already! It’s surely a contrast; a winter-like album being released on summer. So the album definitely has many little highlights that will keep the listener hooked. The record might start a bit weak and monotonous, but the more I spin it, the more I enjoy the overall vibe of it. Moreover, this album being a sequel definitely adds a certain flavor to it. I could feel that ‘old’ sound here and there. At this point, it’s maybe wise to add that the album contains of 2 CDs and the second CD definitely had a more natural sound to it; with the second part, the band definitely took me to the old times. Nevertheless, as with the Vintersorg essence, there is always the mixture of the old and new so the ‘modern touch’ is still there.

One aspect I would maybe criticize would be some songs being ‘stronger’ than the others; some songs impressed me more than others. In this aspect, this is maybe one of those albums in which I would spin to listen to those songs rather than spin the album from the beginning to the end. Another aspect would be the record being too long considering the album consists of 2 CDs so if you are a fan of straightforward albums, you might find this record a bit too long.

Kudos to Vintersorg for taking us back to the 90s… a little bit of nostalgia mixed with the modern touch. “Till Fjälls del II” will definitely be in my playlist this year! Recommended to the lovers of the viking/black metal in general!

Highlights: Lavin, Svart måne

Line-up:
Andreas “Vintersorg” Hedlund – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming
Mattias Marklund – guitars
Simon Lundström – bass

Tracklist: CD1: 01. Jökelväktaren 02. En väldig isvidds karga dräkt 03. Lavin 04. Fjällets mäktiga mur 05. Obygdens pionjär 06. Vinterstorm 07. Tusenåriga stråk 08. Allt mellan himmel och jord 09. Vårflod CD2: 01. Tillbaka till källorna 02. Köldens borg 03. Portalen 04. Svart måne

Links:
Vintersorg Facebook