Windir - Sóknardalr (1997)

Windir is most often celebrated for their later albums, but I have to say. after exploring back through their discography this winter, that they had a fairly developed, advanced sound going back to their Sóknardalr debut in 1997. There are still a few parts of the performance and production that seem amateurish, to be sure, but the sense of melody was already advanced, folk-like rhythms aplenty, and the use of cleaner vocals to offset the genre rasping were also a good choice, although I think they lack a little of the confidence they would develop. Atmospherically, though, if you just want to immerse yourself in some formative Viking black metal through your speakers of headphones, this debut is a trip if you manage your expectations. Not as blistering or savage as the early Enslaved stuff, but also not as goofy as something like Otyg.

You're essentially getting that full Windir package, just not as refined as 1184. They have the ability to use those predictable but pretty sorts of guitar melodies without sounding foolish, unlike a lot of the emergent 'folk metal' bands which sound more like they're ready to take stage at a Renaissance Faire and make jokes of what was crafted from some more serious cultural influences. A lot of this stuff here was also drafted up from the band's demos, which I remember making a stir in the underground during that mid-90s era. And let's not forget, the Norwegians were pretty young when they started off, I know at least Valfar was in his teens when this came out, and to that end, it's impressive, especially as he's performing everything but the drums and some clean vocals! The first song "Sognariket sine krigarer" is a little rough, but it does at least capture the spread of aesthetics that the band would be using throughout its existence. After that, though, some of the songs are a lot better, more matured and developed, like "Det som ver Haukareid" with its slower flow and great interplay of riffs and organs, backing vocals and rasps that feel a little more adherent to the music where they started off the album sticking out a little like a sore thumb.

And these are the same snarly, raspy vocals that appear on all the other albums, but there they get a better mix that embeds them into the instruments where a few points here they just go overboard. Not a deal breaker, of course, when you've got catchy tunes like "Mørket sin fyrste" with its anthemic charge, or "I ei krystallnatt", or "Røvhaugane" which are other favorites on this disc. The melodic sensibility here is just about as good as it was with Finland's Amorphis on their brilliant mid-90s run, even though it's arriving through a different sub-genre. Windir was far more focused on this aspect than others in their scene, who would flirt with the melodies and harmonies but engage in a lot more dissonant chords or post-Hellhammer grooves. For Valfar, this was the modus operandi, not just the end goal. There are catchier earworm guitar licks in some of the verses than some of his peers could muster at the climaxes of all their efforts. So all in all, this was a pretty good debut. The mix is a bit more raw than the later albums which are a lot more layered, but it still sounds crisp and clear to me. This was also the most interesting record to revisit since it hasn't stayed in my rotation through the decades.

Verdict: Win [8/10]