Graveland - The Fire of Awakening (2003)

The Fire of Awakening is the 7th full-length from Rob Darken's legacy under Graveland. Like most of his work, it's an acquired taste with a number of flaws, which taken in context, are not exactly flaws...but still have a tendency to test the listener's patience. What happens here is the natural union of some lush, amazing atmosphere bathed in angelic synthesizers, and the barbaric, plodding, often quite boring guitar rhythms that broil below. Add to this the relative length of each track, from 8-10 minutes long, and the fact that most of the album slides along at the same general pace...and you've got either a recipe for headache, or a brilliant 47 minutes of heathen glory.

Although I find myself leaning towards the latter concoction, I cannot say that this is one of the best of Graveland. It's good, and shows a marked improvement in Rob's ability to conjure atmosphere through very minimal means...but the guitar riffs afford so little interest, that their mere bludgeoning alone cannot support them. What I do appreciate is the way the entire album sounds like a steady war march, if you listen carefully, with eyes closed, the rhythm of the crashing drums can often become hypnotic, sucking you straight into the ages past, your boots tramping through the sludge of human carnage and the cold moors. The keyboards are really well played here, though they create nothing but simple, ethereal lines that truly sound like the valkyries calling you skyward after an honorable death. He'll often use a subtle melodic guitar line speed picked along the synth notes to create a great harmony. The album definitely has its moments, but 47 of them?

"We Shall Prevail" begins with the choir of valkyries, before a slowly paced sludge rhythm drives straight through some smaller, melodic lines. This slowly builds in momentum, like a charge that never fully breaks, and though broken up with more atmospheric provisions, the track doesn't really meet a satisfactory climax. Instead, it bowls over and the "Battle of Wotan's Wolves" takes over. This is my least favorite track on the album, though the most raw in terms of just pounding away with the guitars. Darken is wielding his standard garbled, harsh vocals, never quite so aggressive as many other singers in the genre, but sufficient and no surprise if you've heard his past albums. "In the Sea of Blood" is the most mercifully brief track, under 8 minutes, but the style does not defer from what has come before. More trudging. More guitar melodies skirting alongside the slow march of the cavalry like starved and hungry hounds that seek the mercy of their drivers.

No more love, neither mercy
The red Sun has hidden herself
Their fear born from our hate
Kindles fire and ash

If you've survived this far, then you can probably handle the final two tracks, which are both 10+ minutes in length. "Die for Freedom" is quite extravagant, with epic battle percussion and more of Rob's graceful synth work. It breaks for rations by the midpoint, but wastes little time in retrieving the thunder. I can't help but feel 2-3 minutes less here would have condensed the song into a superior force, because it seems right as it grips you it just keeps rambling on. The closer, "The Four Wings of the Sun" arrives with an extremly glorious opening riff, slow and crunchy and slathered in great picking lines. Again, over 10 minutes, but have patience, and you will be rewarded, for the synths in this track are yet again beautiful over the crashing percussion and the stable if repetitive guitars. The tranquil break at around 6:20 is emotional and helps reel you back in, and this is the strongest overall track.

If an entire album of slower paced, barbaric majesty set aloft by some refined synth ambience is what you find yourself in need of, then look no further. The Fire of Awakening offers little else. Some better guitar riffs, and more diversity of tempos would have surely livened the effort, but Graveland fans should still be pleased. I should mention that the two albums after this, Dawn of Iron Blades and Fire Chariot of Destruction, are both better records, some of the best of his career. If it's your first exposure, you may want to track those down instead. Otherwise, I'll meet you by the morning fog, cold spear in hand, cracked and frosted helm, and the end in my eyes.

Highlights: In the Sea of Blood, The Four Wings of the Sun

Verdict: Win [7/10] (to protect me from the shine)

http://www.graveland.org/

Lord Wind - Rites of the Valkyries (2001)

People can say a lot of things about Rob Darken: that he's controversial, that he's conservative, that his convictions place him well outside the hellride that is the modern world. But there is no denying the man's ambition, or passion for his works, and his ability to keep separate the politics and art in his endless tribute to his heritage, and the lost pagan culture and arts of Europe. Lord Wind is one of his most interesting projects, in which the raw black metal of Graveland is waylaid for the pomp and circumstance of glorious medieval folk, which he creates through synthesized atmospheres. You could think of it as an extension to some of the intros he has done for Graveland songs/albums, with each album centered around a specific concept. In the case of the third Lord Wind album, Rites of the Valkyries, the focus is the winged warmaidens of Norse legend.

Darken's writing here is far from the minimalism one might expect from a great many of the side projects you hear from many of the 'old guard' in black metal. These songs could very well score a video game or film, though they are performed on a tight budget. This album felt a little rougher around the edges than Heralds of Fight, but the style is largely the same. Synthesized vocal choirs, the crashing of programmed drums, and other keyboard simulations provide the melodies and atmosphere. This would be best compared to Mortiis' earlier work (before he got gothed up) or Summoning (sans the black metal and vocals). It's lo-fi, it's cheesy, and it's also really fun...and engaging.

"Winged Helmets" is the sorrow-sworn opening track, and the 'horns' announce the heraldry of the sky, while cymbals crash and the low percussion thunders, soon eclipsed in male vocal choirs. Immediately I was brought back to the sound programming for 16-bit video games, and how they had to make use of purely synthesized instrumentation to set mood and effect. "The Ancient Beginning" has beautiful percussion which rolls into huge horns which could have easily scored a Conan sequel, and again the booming male vocal choirs sound endearing in their digitized form. This is quite an excellent track, one of the better here. "Prophecy of the Norns" is more laid back and ancient feeling, as the keyboards vibrate off in the distance, the percussion rolling beneath like the kingdoms of clouds that must have one supported these battle angels. "Father of Wisdom" is like a creeping frost that arrives to envelop an ancient, staring statue. The track is amazingly evocative, one need only close his eyes while listening to see Odin's single eye staring at you, in both curiosity and judgment.

The next track, "Atlantean Monument", would coincidentally be used as the title of the Lord Wind album to succeed this. The song itself has synthesized horns and violins which write across the percussion. It wasn't my favorite here, the selection of notes does not inspire much attention, and even the subtle shifts of the track do not heighten its value. "Rhinemaiden's Lamentation" is a slow, sad piece with the male choirs buzzing directly through the center, and angelic female choirs joining them for a glorious cathedral-like atmosphere. Pipes enter into the middle of the track, just enough to hold interest as they wind back into the 'vocal' melody. "Dance of War" has the most uncouth, soundtrack feel here, it literally sounds like an orchestra being synthesized, with brooding, deep drums and horns which call out the brazen madness of warfare.
It's easily one of the more memorable tracks on the album. "Horn of the Summoning" ends the original album (the 2006 re-issue has a 17 minute bonus track, but I don't have that) with some more brazen, Conan-like momentum.

Rites of the Valkyries, like most of Lord Wind's material, is perfect for several occasions. Table top gaming with your friends, reading something epic, or playing on the computer are all suitable, or when strolling outdoors in a temperate clime. I suggest these not to trivialize the effort, but to give examples of experiences the music can enrich. As I mentioned above, the lo-fi recording of the tracks does give it a cheesy flair, but it can't be helped. For what it's worth, it is a fine album to listen through, and one of his better efforts outside Graveland.

Highlights: The Ancient Beginning, Prophecy of the Norns, Father of Wisdom, Dance of War

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.lordwind.com/

Graveland - Spears of Heaven (2009)

Lyrically this is standard Viking battle stuff, venerating Wotan and reveling in ancient temples and lost magics. Graveland has been around for over fifteen years now, but honestly this is my first exposure to them. The biggest problem that I have with black metal is that there is so much of it, so many one man outfits like Graveland's Rob Darken producing huge catalogues of music.

There is likely not enough time to properly enjoy it all. That being said his latest release Spears of Heaven is worth your time if you like the genre. What really stands out for me is the drumming. It is furious and lays down a rhythm that is ever marching forward. After a nice sampled chorus intro to the title track, the album builds up momentum that only relents in the last track. That last song "Return to the Northern Carpathian" pulls back the ferocity for the first four or five minutes to focus on the atmosphere. It didn't seem to fit with the rest of the album though and I'd probably skip it on replays.

Besides that last segment the synths are generally used to great effect, albeit sparingly. Like in "When Valkyries Come" they provide a nice hook, but in "Sun Wind" they build atmosphere before gradually giving way to the pounding rhythms.

I find it hard to differentiate between individual songs on many of these one-man black metal albums, but there is enough variety in the riffs to hold up interest across the albums 55 minutes. It is a solid piece in an crowded genre. Worth a listen if you've exhausted the latest from your favorite bedroom black metal artists.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.graveland.org

Thoth - From the Abyss of Dungeons of Darkness (2008)

You don't come across a collaboration this epic every day, but the tortured trio Thoth deliver one of the most severely grim slabs of depressive black metal I have heard recently. The band includes Necro of Selbstmord and Ohtar, Krzysztof of Dark Fury, and the mighty Rob Darken of Graveland, Lord Wind and other fame. The style of the band is generally slow to mid-paced black metal with extremely somber vocals and some atmosphere synthesizers. The album is also doomier than many doom albums I've heard, so you can consider it a sort of black/doom hybrid.

"Waiting for You" begins with a painful, slow riff. Doom chords ride waves of suffering below a sequence of simple repeating notes and the horrifyingly bleak vocals. "...to Kill..." offers a simple series of chords collapsing beneath strings of searing black metal guitars. The way the beat shuffles in beneath this morass of wristcutting is an instant pick-up, an aspirin overdose accompanied by a tolling bell, a truly sinister atmosphere evoked. There is NO LIGHT at the END OF THE TUNNEL. You are FUCKING DOOMED. "Within the Cemetery Crypts" is a gorgeous track with some amazing simple riffs and synths that chime. And then we have the title track to one of the best titled albums! "From the Abyss of Dungeons of Darkness", the perfect English as a second language title, and the track is glorious. "The Parasite" was rather mediocre, but "Time of Solitude" works towards capturing the vibe of these first four tracks. "Omnipresent Cold" and "Chaos Syndrome" are two more beautiful tracks, and the album ends with the haunting guitar instrumental "Emptiness".

The album has a very raw streak to it which adds to the presence of the lamented. This album sounds like it was being brought to you live from a mausoleum, from a trio of grim individuals who mourn the dead below their feet as they prepare to cut up and join them. The cover art sucks and I didn't enjoy one of the tunes as much as the rest, but considering who is involved here it is well worth the while to check out if you like any grim, depressing black metal and really anything Darken is involved with.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.elegyrecords.com/