Vocalist Swapping.

requiem

requiem

I bleed sir, but not killed
Jul 6, 2001
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Although I really only know the latest Borknagar album, I'm familiar with their history, especially as far as vocalists are concerned.

For those of you who count Borknagar as if not your favourite, then one of your favourite bands, can I ask what you think of the seemingly rapid vocalist changes?

Three vocalists is a lot for any band to have. I know that it would probably disrupt me if, say, Katatonia or Opeth had that many vocalists coming in and out all the time.

How do the rest of you see it?

p.s Vintersorg is fantastic on 'Empiricism'!
 
hey requiem,

I think Garm is the best simply because he was the first.
Simen would never come to Borknagar if Garm didn't invite him to sing on La Masquerade Infernale.
Vintersorg also has his own style and I think he fits the Quintessence lineup better (rock influences of Lars Nedland of Solefald and him on Borknagar are great).

that's my point of view...
 
I believe that the main reason behind all those changes is that Borknagar are more or less the band of Oystein G. Brun and the singers' status is a bit above being session members. That was definitely the case with Garm, since he was more or less a guest appearance and never truly a member of the band (plus he always said that after two records he didn't see Borknagar going anywhere) and I believe that Simen wasn't really a member of the band as well. I'm really sure how things stand with Vintersord since I don't really follow their career since Simen left the band, but I don't think things are much different. I always thought Borknagar more as a personal project of Brun than as a regular band. So the changes weren't that surprising to me.
 
borknagar is epic in that they have weathered three of the greatest vocal talents in metal.
seemingly rapid vocal changes? doesn't phase me at all, i believe each vocalist brought something to the table that no other could... inasmuch they fit the style period of the band at the time. the music holds its own at any rate, and borknagar has consistently released quality, solid albums...
i love their sound with vintersorg, and i hope he becomes a permanent fixture in this band's future.
 
Yeah, I really don't mind, given the quality of the singers they've had- all 3 are at the top of their field. They are all pretty similar in style too, the only real difference IMO is the sound of their voice. I dunno, lineup changes are something that usually really annoys me about a band, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
 
While Ive yet to hear Garms work I have heard Simen, and of course Vintersorg. Both are two of the best vocalists I can think off and its amazing Borknagar had/has both of them respectively. The boys sure know how to pick em.

Oh yeah, I just found this board.:wave:
 
The whole vocalist swapping is something they did not intend to do, really. At the point where Borknagar started touring they were trying to be a real band, instead of a project from Oystein. Of course Oystein writes the majority of music, but during rehearsals other members can change a lot of the music and insert their own ideas...

Garm left because he didn't want to tour in the first place and now I recently read in an interview that he didn't see any potential in the band (though, he thinks they are quite good).

Then Simen came on board, he was a full time member, but because he was needed at the Dimmu Borgir camp the band decided to let him choose, because both bands just didn't work out (in other words, Borknagar came on the last place, and the band didn't like it...). So because of this Simen left and since Oystein was in contact with Vintersorg (who was a Borknagar fan in the first place) they decided to try him out, and it worked... So now Vintersorg is on board...

So this really wasn't meant to happen, but I really don't know any other band who has these many line-up changes (and especially vocalists) in such a short time, and still let it work out alright... Let's just hope Vintersorg stays on board for more then 2 albums and breaks with the tradition, it would be sad if he left, since the band is currently in their best line-up ever...
 
I like all the singers. Vintersorg did a great job on the last abum. I like the Borknagar songs with a lot of clean vocals. Vortex has a GREAT voice too but he almost use his black/death grunt. I like his clean voice more. Collossus is one of the best songs of Borknagar because the vocals of Votex!
 
But Simen also has very unique dirty vocals. Unlike anything I've ever heard. And he did the thing with layering several vocal tracks (clean + dirty) over each other. This was taken over by Vintersorg on "Empiricism".
 
I didn't say that Borknagar invented it. But at least they do it quite well, especially on "Quintessence". And it would have been a shame to drop this feature. I once read that on this album, Simen layers up to five vocal lines onto each other? Was that an exaggeration or is it really true?
 
It definately sounds to be true. That was one of the first things I noticed when I first heard Quintessence, the vocal layerin is incredible, I love it. Vintersorg does it too, but not to the extent of Simen.
 
Not yet at least. We'll have to wait for a new album. The layering was brought to perfection on Simen's second album after all.
 
I think Borknagar having 3 vocalists every other record was somewhat refreshing. Whenever a band gets a new member, it always makes the band sound a little bit different and can add to the overall vibe of the album. "Quintessence" wouldn't have sounded the same if Garm had did the vocals. It just wouldn't have sounded as good to me. But then again I wasn't all that big of a fan of Garm anyway...He's a good vocalist, but nowhere near as good as Simen or Vintersorg.
 
I love all of the vocalists equally, for me, every Borknagar album is oozing with quality! :)

Hello Final_Vision
 
I somewhat agree. The changing of vocalists has always kept this band fresh and exciting. And this way you can clearly distinguish between the Borknagar eras, as it were.
 
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