Hubster
...
derbeder said:
I think they all did good things.
Although Trym Torson is probably the most superior drummer out of them all, this wasn't evident with the work he did with Enslaved. We found out what Trym could do when he joined Emperor
Harald Helgeson is a bit of a subtopic on his own given how different Eld was. Many people were outraged by the drum production on Eld, but in hindsight I think it suits the album perfectly: it's very textured and organic, and sounds very close to the listener.
The music on Eld was very very varied imo, lots of time (and style) changes, very interesting, diverse music, so I think they chose a great drummer in Harald Helgeson. Excellent work can be heard at:
- "For Lenge Siden (A Long Time Ago)": approx 0:35 onwards for almost the entire song.
- "Eld (Fire)": approx 2:00 onwards.
He has great handiwork throughout the album though. Sometime his style reminds me of African drummers. Perhaps this could be a misconception on my part due to the production.
Dirge Rep, despite being a wanker, did some fantastic work on Blodhemn and Mardraum (especially on Blodhemn during "Ansuz Astral" approx 3:14 onwards to the end of the song, fantastic speed and tightness). Also see "Større enn Tid - Tyngre enn Natt (Larger than Time - Heavier than Night)" on Mardraum... Dirge's work on that song is really bloody good.
Finally, Cato. He's a bit of an old warhorse isn't he? I find his style reflects this also, he's definitely not one to be able to hammer out the whole of Blodhemn with his eyes closed.
I think Cato's slower and more thoughtful style does suit the current music of Enslaved, and it would probably ruin the music if they had someone else. He has some nice fills and a bit of flair, but I think if Enslaved have made any mistakes of late, it's with the drum production - it's been too thick, it has too much breadth and imo feels a little claustrophobic to the ears. Because of this it "mushes" Cato's performance up. I think a more "seperated and clear" production for the drumming might help Cato's skill to breathe through the music more, right now I feel it's a little hindered.
