Wyrd - Heathen
Millennium Records, 2002
by Perkele
I hold in my hands an outstanding product of the Finnish black metal underground. There is only one man behind Wyrd, Narquath who you might know from his other project Azaghal - though the two bands' music could`t be compared. Two demos came out before this album was released this year, limited distribution of only 900 copies.
Heathen contains only 1 track that is 51 minutes long. This epic, pagan, black metal song awakes memories of a Viking past. If I want to make comparisons, I would say Wyrd reminds me of old Bathory combined with some Burzum-ish stuff here and there, and it is filled with ancestral, primitive, natural power. Slow rhythms, acoustic guitar parts, synthesizer surrounds us in a foggy-mystical atmosphere, and on the wings of the soundpipes we can fly above the bitter but fascinating northern lands. This song is the praise of the omnipotent nature but it's also the painful poem of the unbreakable Viking souls, of their blank but glorious struggle:
"With sorrow filled heart, I walk ahead on my nightly patrol.
Sounds of battle still echoing in my mind.
Unprepared we were when they came to shore,
Waving their swords, screaming the name of an unknown god.
From behind they sneaked on us, like cowards they are.
Forced us to retreat in shame, filled our hearts with pain and rage.
You might kill our kin but you can never crush our spirit.
'We shall return the pride of our golden land,
For now and forever!' "
The music and lyrics complete each other, composing painful sorrow or aggressive rage behind its story with a pulsating power as it nears the end, till we arrive at their victory over the Christian hordes. Narquath repeats the verses with croaking black metal vocals and to this the sound of his normal clear voice, makes a parallel - as between the pain of the struggle and the firm determination to go on. The roaring of the waves on the stormy seas, the metallic ringing of the swords and the sound of the crackling fire round out the story and complete the mood of the song.
With this album Narquath also express his heathen views. The album title speaks for itself, as does the name of the band 'Wyrd' that has an important role in heathenism.
The sound is a bit raw and deep but it fits the mood of the music very well. Narqath's pronunciation is not perfect either, but it makes Heathen, both the music and the mood around it, more natural, more elemental.
Some might find Heathen too long and boring but I find it a beautiful piece of epic, pagan black metal.
Length: 51:11
Millennium Records, 2002
by Perkele
I hold in my hands an outstanding product of the Finnish black metal underground. There is only one man behind Wyrd, Narquath who you might know from his other project Azaghal - though the two bands' music could`t be compared. Two demos came out before this album was released this year, limited distribution of only 900 copies.
Heathen contains only 1 track that is 51 minutes long. This epic, pagan, black metal song awakes memories of a Viking past. If I want to make comparisons, I would say Wyrd reminds me of old Bathory combined with some Burzum-ish stuff here and there, and it is filled with ancestral, primitive, natural power. Slow rhythms, acoustic guitar parts, synthesizer surrounds us in a foggy-mystical atmosphere, and on the wings of the soundpipes we can fly above the bitter but fascinating northern lands. This song is the praise of the omnipotent nature but it's also the painful poem of the unbreakable Viking souls, of their blank but glorious struggle:
"With sorrow filled heart, I walk ahead on my nightly patrol.
Sounds of battle still echoing in my mind.
Unprepared we were when they came to shore,
Waving their swords, screaming the name of an unknown god.
From behind they sneaked on us, like cowards they are.
Forced us to retreat in shame, filled our hearts with pain and rage.
You might kill our kin but you can never crush our spirit.
'We shall return the pride of our golden land,
For now and forever!' "
The music and lyrics complete each other, composing painful sorrow or aggressive rage behind its story with a pulsating power as it nears the end, till we arrive at their victory over the Christian hordes. Narquath repeats the verses with croaking black metal vocals and to this the sound of his normal clear voice, makes a parallel - as between the pain of the struggle and the firm determination to go on. The roaring of the waves on the stormy seas, the metallic ringing of the swords and the sound of the crackling fire round out the story and complete the mood of the song.
With this album Narquath also express his heathen views. The album title speaks for itself, as does the name of the band 'Wyrd' that has an important role in heathenism.
The sound is a bit raw and deep but it fits the mood of the music very well. Narqath's pronunciation is not perfect either, but it makes Heathen, both the music and the mood around it, more natural, more elemental.
Some might find Heathen too long and boring but I find it a beautiful piece of epic, pagan black metal.
Length: 51:11
