Thyrfing - Vansinnesvisor
Hammerheart Records, 2002
Our favourite Swedish Viking warriors, after two years gone, are back with their fourth album titled Vansinnesvisor that means `Songs of Madness`. All of their albums have been a bit different, though they always fit into the Viking-metal category. This time they made a step into other directions, finding their very own style. True, they lost some of the typical Viking characteristics, but development is not wrong.
You still can find Viking-ish elements in their music, but with more folk elements than before and with more symphonic influences in it. These give a more atmospheric mood around the album, making it medieval and epic while also sounding deep and dark as well, making us feel their madness rushing up to the surface. The song structures are more varied this time with unique, catchy melodies we haven't heard on any Thyrfing record before and these won't leave your ears for a while... I even dare to say, some of the slower, low melodies has a kind of doom feeling. You can find here everything from almost pure black metal songs through danceable folk melodies to dark hymns. The other thing you will recognize after listening to the album even just once, Vansinnesvisor has more aggression than we are used to hear from Thyrfing. From this power the whole album is more energetic, there is more life in the songs. Though they are also loaded with the heaviness of unstoppable anger - or madness, linking it to the title. Keyboards still have an important role but haven't been pushed so forward. There is more stres on the guitars, on the heavy drums and on the overall sound. Acoustic guitars and keyed fiddle's create the atmosphere around the album.
The vocals have also changed and Thomas Väänänen shows much more from his vocalist abilities now. You can feel he put his heart into this album. His vocals are much rawer and harsher. Sometimes he is growling with primal anger and sometimes he's spitting the words as if they were venomous curses, making every song forceful and giving some dark vibration to the whole album. He makes you feel his anger, his pain, his craziness. These dark emotions have been transmitted clearly through his voice and the lyrics written in Swedish make the emotions more 'real'. There is also a guest singer, Toni Kocmut, who also helped them out on Urkraft and on Valdr Galga before. His lighter voice sounds sometimes a bit lethargic andcontradicting with Thomas`s vocals.
This is the kind of music that makes you to want to live through, giving you the fighting spirit. If you listen to just the music and Thomas's voice, and don't care what the lyrics are about, you will feel the wisdom, the experiences and the strength of past ages.
Maybe it's not the best album in the genre, and maybe they will produce better albums in the future but one thing is fur sure, Vansinnesvisor is a turning point in the band's life.
Tracklist:
1. Draugs harg
2. Digerdöden
3. Världsspegeln
4. The Voyager
5. Ångestens högborg
6. The Giant's Laughter
7. Vansinnesvisan
8. Kaos återkomst
Thyrfing
Hammerheart Records
Hammerheart Records, 2002
Our favourite Swedish Viking warriors, after two years gone, are back with their fourth album titled Vansinnesvisor that means `Songs of Madness`. All of their albums have been a bit different, though they always fit into the Viking-metal category. This time they made a step into other directions, finding their very own style. True, they lost some of the typical Viking characteristics, but development is not wrong.
You still can find Viking-ish elements in their music, but with more folk elements than before and with more symphonic influences in it. These give a more atmospheric mood around the album, making it medieval and epic while also sounding deep and dark as well, making us feel their madness rushing up to the surface. The song structures are more varied this time with unique, catchy melodies we haven't heard on any Thyrfing record before and these won't leave your ears for a while... I even dare to say, some of the slower, low melodies has a kind of doom feeling. You can find here everything from almost pure black metal songs through danceable folk melodies to dark hymns. The other thing you will recognize after listening to the album even just once, Vansinnesvisor has more aggression than we are used to hear from Thyrfing. From this power the whole album is more energetic, there is more life in the songs. Though they are also loaded with the heaviness of unstoppable anger - or madness, linking it to the title. Keyboards still have an important role but haven't been pushed so forward. There is more stres on the guitars, on the heavy drums and on the overall sound. Acoustic guitars and keyed fiddle's create the atmosphere around the album.
The vocals have also changed and Thomas Väänänen shows much more from his vocalist abilities now. You can feel he put his heart into this album. His vocals are much rawer and harsher. Sometimes he is growling with primal anger and sometimes he's spitting the words as if they were venomous curses, making every song forceful and giving some dark vibration to the whole album. He makes you feel his anger, his pain, his craziness. These dark emotions have been transmitted clearly through his voice and the lyrics written in Swedish make the emotions more 'real'. There is also a guest singer, Toni Kocmut, who also helped them out on Urkraft and on Valdr Galga before. His lighter voice sounds sometimes a bit lethargic andcontradicting with Thomas`s vocals.
This is the kind of music that makes you to want to live through, giving you the fighting spirit. If you listen to just the music and Thomas's voice, and don't care what the lyrics are about, you will feel the wisdom, the experiences and the strength of past ages.
Maybe it's not the best album in the genre, and maybe they will produce better albums in the future but one thing is fur sure, Vansinnesvisor is a turning point in the band's life.
Tracklist:
1. Draugs harg
2. Digerdöden
3. Världsspegeln
4. The Voyager
5. Ångestens högborg
6. The Giant's Laughter
7. Vansinnesvisan
8. Kaos återkomst
Thyrfing
Hammerheart Records
