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/:: Artist :: D°dsfall ::\
:: Album :: NΣr M÷rkret ─r Pσ VΣg ::
:: Year :: 2022 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CDDA . ::
:: Label :: Drakkar Prod. R.date :: 2023.01.14 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: DKCD246 S.date :: 2022.11.11 __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 288kbps :..
. Quality :: 44.1kHz/Joint Stereo .
. Size :: 88.12 MB .
. .
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 01. Helveteselden 06:22 ::
:: 02. Nattens Svarta DjΣvlar 05:06 ::
:: 03. Skogen Vid Norra ─nden 05:07 ::
:: 04. Isborg 05:12 ::
:: 05. D÷dsfΣrd Genom Xibalba 07:22 ::
:: 06. G÷taland 06:24 ::
:: 07. Evighetens Onda Salar 07:06 ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 42:39 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: Swedish based artist Is (a.k.a. Ishtar) is now the only ::
:: member of D°dsfall judging by the line-up listed on the ::
:: bandÆs sixth album ôNΣr m÷rkret Σr pσ vΣgö. His former ::
:: bandmate Telal, a Norwegian drummer, left the band. So the ::
:: band is actually Swedish now, not Swedish-Norwegian ::
:: (according to Is in an interview with Metal Jacket Magazine, ::
:: he has ônever said that the band is entirely Norwegianö). ::
:: Even though Is is Mexican-born (this, by the way, explains ::
:: the presence of a song in Swedish about Xibalba on the new ::
:: opus û ôD÷dsfΣrd genom Xibalbaö i. e. ôA Journey through ::
:: Xibalbaö). Nevertheless, if the material of the previous ::
:: album ôD°den skal ikke venteö could be described as an ::
:: attack of the second or whatever Norwegian black metal ::
:: echelon, well, something in the spirit of Taake, Tsjuder and ::
:: Urgehal, then on their (his) new album D°dsfall offer ::
:: (offers) really Swedish black metal. Almost. ::
:: ::
:: The thing is that Is made a move not only in space, but also ::
:: in time: from the very first song ôHelveteseldenö we hear ::
:: echoes of old-school Swedish black metal, in particular ::
:: early Dark Funeral. No less often, especially in the second ::
:: half of the album, you can spot the influence of Dissection, ::
:: primarily in the solo parts, the most revealing songs are ::
:: ôSkogen vid nora Σndenö and ôIsborgö. While Norwegian old ::
:: school black metal can be found, if only in the mentioned ::
:: ôD÷dsfΣrd genom Xibalbaö û it has something of Immortal in ::
:: it as well. Now dissonance, which is actively used in modern ::
:: black metal, is not particularly in demand among D°dsfall: a ::
:: fast almost atonal riff in the final part of ôNattens svarta ::
:: djΣvlarö and an opening one with atonal guitar picking in ::
:: the spirit of Mayhem in ôEvighetens onda salarö û thatÆs ::
:: probably all. Yes, there is little that breaks the old- ::
:: school atmosphere here. ::
:: ::
:: á ::
:: ::
:: The shrieking vocals are also a bit reminiscent of what you ::
:: could hear on MardukÆs albums before. However, Is often ::
:: sings/declaims with a clear voice (ôHelveteseldenö, ôSkogen ::
:: vid norra Σndenö, ôIsborgö and ôD÷dsfΣrd genom Xibalbaö). ::
:: Add to this that keyboards are used on ôNΣr m÷rkret Σr pσ ::
:: vΣgö sometimes (ôHelveteseldenö, ôNattens svarta djΣvlarö, ::
:: ôIsborgö and ôEvighetens onda salarö), as well as acoustic ::
:: guitar (opening Bathory-like picking in ôHelveteseldenö and ::
:: the flamenco passage at the end of ôG÷talandö). There are a ::
:: lot of blast beats on the album, but on the whole the tempo ::
:: changes several times in the piece, and we are witnessing ::
:: both high-speed outbreaks of fury and melodic slowness. ::
:: Well, here are the main elements of Swedish melodic black ::
:: metal gathered. ::
:: ::
:: For all that, D°dsfall accepted thrash metal tinges in ::
:: guitar riffs noticeably. Starting with the first ::
:: ôHelveteseldenö, the palm muting technique in thrash metal ::
:: attitude is used quite frequently throughout the album. And ::
:: the matter is not limited only to it, D°dsfall quite often ::
:: enter the territory of blackened thrash metal like early ::
:: Absu û the sixth ôG÷talandö is the most indicative in this ::
:: regard. ::
:: ::
:: á ::
:: ::
:: However, Is did not stop at bringing only thrash metal into ::
:: his music. No less often we hear heavy metal touches on the ::
:: album, the matter is that such riffs are not so easy to ::
:: catch and identify due to the evil and raw guitar sound. ::
:: However, the finale (including the solo) of the first song ::
:: is almost clear power metal, ôNattens svarta djΣvlarö also ::
:: has a heavy/power metal lick, and so on until ôD÷dsfΣrd ::
:: genom Xibalbaö, which being the most mysterious (while very ::
:: vicious) unexpectedly ends with heavy metal technical feats. ::
:: ::
:: á ::
:: ::
:: Stylistic abundance and melodic richness is best ::
:: demonstrated by the third ôSkogen vid nora Σndenö: it cannot ::
:: get an acceleration for a long time, but finally picks up ::
:: the pace, while harmony and consistency are preserved at any ::
:: speed. There is a lot of old-school Swedish black metal ::
:: touches in this song, even Swordmaster comes to mind at ::
:: speed, there is also an abrupt transition to a typical ::
:: Swedish tremolo picking lead line here, while the final solo ::
:: reminds of Dissection. But on the other hand there are ::
:: plenty of palm muted riffs here too: the song opens with an ::
:: evil almost pure thrash metal palm muting. In addition, ::
:: ôSkogen vid nora Σndenö is full of heavy metal elements. As ::
:: contrasted to it, by the way, the last ôEvighetens onda ::
:: salarö, also filled with passages from different genres, ::
:: does not sound so harmonious, and what is more obvious û it ::
:: is clearly overlong. ::
:: ::
:: ôD°den skal ikke venteö was recorded, mixed and mastered by ::
:: Tore Stjerna, so it would be interesting to compare the new ::
:: album with it in terms of production. Of course, what was ::
:: created in Necromorbus Studio was a little softer, cleaner ::
:: and noticeably more distinct. In his turn, Is also kept his ::
:: end up when mixing the new work (right, he did everything ::
:: himself): ôNΣr m÷rkret Σr pσ vΣgö has a fairly clear ::
:: production, it is not a raw D.I.Y.-recording at all as is ::
:: usually the case with numerous one-man black metal projects. ::
:: Nevertheless, it would be better if Is created his new opus ::
:: in the previous studio, after all, this material is quite ::
:: technical to refuse the services of a more experienced sound ::
:: engineer. ::
:: ::
:: á ::
:: ::
:: Perhaps Is wanted to add some rawness to his new creation, ::
:: which seems quite natural due to the acquisition of an old ::
:: school tendency to his material. Yes, there is something in ::
:: the combination of ornate music and rawness, this is an ::
:: interesting maneuver. However, the drums sound suffered a ::
:: lot because of such an approach: we got these terrible ::
:: typical modern metal plastic triggered (or even programmed) ::
:: drums. The ôNattens svarta djΣvlarö beginning generally ::
:: creates the feeling of a drum machine: yes, we see a live ::
:: drummer in the video for this song, but what are we supposed ::
:: to do with what we hear? Although Tore Stjerna also often ::
:: gets blamed for such ôplasticö drums, he makes the sound ::
:: much more natural. Much worse is that these ôplasticö drums ::
:: donÆt fit well to the rather raw guitar sound. ::
:: ::
:: Summary. ôNΣr m÷rkret Σr pσ vΣgö will appeal to those who ::
:: prefer both evil and melodic music. Old schoolness is the ::
:: foremost attraction of the album, although compared to the ::
:: classical standards the songs are quite feature-packed. It ::
:: is not certain that the album will be 100% accepted by the ::
:: fans of the former D°dsfall, but it will help to find new ::
:: fans. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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