COUNTRY: SWEDEN
GENRE: MELODIC BLACK METAL
ALBUM REVIEW: NATTARVET [2019]
LABEL: BLACK LODGE RECORDS
Artwork by Mario Polzin
WORMWOOD - "NATTARVET" - 2019 | Tracklist:
01 - Av Lie och Börda
02 - I Bottenlös Ävja
03 - Arctic Light
04 - The Achromatic Road
05 - Sunnas Hädanfärd
06 - Tvehunger
07 - The Isolationist
[Release Date: 2019-07-26]
ORDER CD, LP & MERCH:
http://smarturl.it/nattarvet
RECORDING LINEUP:
Nine - Vocals
T. Rydsheim - Guitar/Bass/Keys
D. Johansson - Drums
J. Engström - Guitar
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Guest musicians
Erik Gravsjö (MÅNEGARM) - Vocals
Martin Björklund - Violin
Mika Kivi (PAARA) - Vocals
Moa Sjölander - Vocals
PRODUCTION/RECORDING:
Produced by Sverker Widgren (Diabolical, Demonical, October Tide, Etc.) | Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Wing Studios
WORMWOOD - Nattarvet - 2019 - Black Lodge Records
Genre: Melodic Black Metal
"(...)Hidden from the teeth of man
Life is but a struggle
Against the grain and snow
Towards darkness and crows (...)" | WORMWOOD | Nattarvet | The Isolationist
THE BAND AND THE NEW ALBUM:
From the cold Scandinavian lands of frost and snow comes the Swedish melodic/folk black metal sensation band WORMWOOD, a band forged in the heathen flames of Rydsheim (Sweden) in 2014.
Even being a relatively recent band WORMWOOD got already great reviews from the media and caught the metal universe attention with their debut album "Ghostlands - Wounds From a Bleeding Earth" [2017 - Non Serviam Records] which was a masterpiece of its genre in our opinion!
The band returns now with another impressive piece of art entitled "Nattarvet" - The Night's Heritage, a profound and dramatic musical journey inspired at most on Swedish famine across the years of 1867 to 1869. The new album focus on different people experiences over that dark period over Sweden's past. Experiences of solitude and strife that caused a profound impact on those who lived through that rough times!
"Nattarvet" is a quite more personal and emotive album than its predecessor "Ghostlands...", who got inspired by the admiration of the cosmos and the enchanting Scandinavian landscapes and wonders! "Nattarvet" in the other hand goes deep into the experiences lived by those we most probably forgotten about already, people who lived their lives in isolation, families who died because of drastically hard winters. Harsh times when people lacked on comfort and food to eat, traumatic experiences taken by communities like the ones in Taiga of Sweden!
"Nattarvet" is an album embraced by melancholy and desolation that tells of unspeakable horrors of those who lived through some of the worst periods of time in Swedish lands, this horrors have been the main backbone and inspiration of the new album soundscapes!
WORMWOOD have recreated their sound and gone deeper, this without ever losing their own strong "folkish" identity. As a daring and audacious band, WORMWOOD have gone further with their experimental sound... so far, that sometimes it reaches a transcendental stage taking their listeners deep in trance within the created landscapes of sound! Pink Floyd'ish some would say, I rather say it takes you out in a journey back to those desolate lands of frost and snow, impressive to say the least!
WORMWOOD have kept their strong identity deeply attached to the Scandinavian nature and wonders, no matter how obscure they can be, in this case the album art by Mario Polzin condenses the album dark concept in a minimalist, yet gracious stunning art! Not less gracious and stunning is the whole album production once again by the hands of Swedish extreme metal guru Sverker Widgren (Diabolical, October Tide, etc). No other was to be expected from a Wing Studios work but the sound definition is in fact top notch on an elite level!
TRACK-BY-TRACK:
"Nattarvet" is a quite personal and mature album with a deep dark emotional aura, contrasting with its predecessor enlighten, curious and positive vibe, here melancholy dominates over a forlorn atmosphere.
WORMWOOD's new melodic/folk black metal creation is quite uniform in quality, there are no bad tracks into this album so make yourself ready to go deep into this desolate journey... dress up for a hard winter and enjoy this memorable experience!
The opening track "Av Lie och Börda" (Of Scythe and Burden) introduces the listeners to the whole album main theme that is the famine over Swedish lands back in 1860's, it tells of peoples hopes for better days, days that didn't came that soon at all. Poor farmers fought their way through years of long winters, ruined crops and misery beyond measure. This is a quite desolate fast song with enjoyable folk elements leading the listener to a rural environment, here the violin sound makes all the difference and brings some folk balance into an enraged black metal harshness!
"I Bottenlös Ävja" (In Bottomless Mud) follows, this song tells us of one the many dangerous and treacherous bogs of those forlorn lands, it tells us the tale of an old woman who got stuck on one of those bogs who sank her down into her own agonising death, her ghost has haunted all those who dared to venture near her (un)resting place ever since. This is a tragic gloomy song that counts with the hauntingly melancholic guest clean vocals of the finish singer Mika Kivi of Paara. A spooky and bewitching atmosphere surrounds this great dynamic song that is one of my favourites of the album, here the folk elements are dark and sinister but yet so delightful!
"Arctic Light" is the following track and it is inspired by 'In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette' by Hampton Sides. It tells the tale of a man who was shipwrecked somewhere in the Artic back in the 1800s and got himself lost on those forsaken lands, he lost his sanity and embraced madness, becoming as one with the Artic light! This is another of my personal favourite tracks of the album, an overall fast melodic song with deep transcendental sections that gives an astonishing balance to the whole track and takes you deep into the frozen Artic regions where you will be mesmerized by the dancing Artic lights, words cannot describe this feeling, It gave me shivers since first listening, you need to hear such strongly visual song to know what I mean!
"The Achromatic Road" is the next track and it pays tribute to the book "The Road" by Cormac Mccarthy. Here you follow a lonely man's tragic life as he succumbs into a pale world embraced by misery. This man's solitude was his ultimate downfall! This is a quite grey and hollow song with a strong sorrowful melody that raises in tension until the ultimate end!
"Sunnas Hädanfärd" (Sunnas Death) comes next, and tells of Sunna (the personification of the sun) and her downfall. She is losing her shining vitality and all things around her shall die with her. Ragnarök (end of the World) is coming and turns the whole world upside-down. This is another fast and powerful track which counts with the participation of the well-known Månegarm's singer Erik that includes his powerful and bombastic vocals on such Epic and heart pounding track that ends with a delightful "folkish" harmony!
"Tvehunger" (Double/Twine hunger) is the next track. On this song you will follow the ascension of a pack of werewolves who ravished a town. The song doesn't centre so much on the beasts themselves but on the horrors and sadness that the villagers felt as well as lycanthropy theme by itself. This is a fast ravaging song with a very own savage/barbaric essence of primordial darkness. This is another of my favourite songs with a great epic vibe that reaches its climax with some amazingly great ancestral pagan folk oriented chant close to middle of the track, quickly followed with some addictive epic guitar leads. Folk and melodic black metal can't get much better than this!
"The Isolationist" song ends up this amazing album with the mark of excellence, this is another song about solitude and it tells of a man who refuses to leave his home deep in the forest. Even with the death of his old wife he decided to remain in that forsaken place and wither away into obscurity. This is a deep melancholic song with an agonising desolated atmosphere. "The Isolationist" is another of my favourite tracks that keeps a great balance between the ravaging black metal and the melancholic melody that embraces the whole song, a deep transcendental and experimental melody within the middle of this song takes you deep into the whole forsaken atmosphere lived through the whole "Nattarvet" musical journey... the album couldn't end up better if you ask me! Cold as snow and frost as ice... this is in fact another epic masterpiece from such force of nature by the name of WORMWOOD!
THE CONCLUSION:
"Nattarvet" - The Night's Heritage is some of the most melancholic, well-balanced, profound and dark pieces of melodic/folk black metal we heard in the last years! Proving that that this Swedish sensation band never stops surprising us with their immeasurable talent.
"Nattarvet" is an impressive and intense piece of ravaging Scandinavian black metal art with the aid of enriching folk and melodic elements who provide WORMWOOD a very own, strong and remarkable identity!
Allot is to be expected on the following chapters of this band most promising career. Who knows when they will sit among the giants of Scandinavian black metal? I think it's just a matter of time!
For now you can sit down and enjoy their highly recommended new work in all its splendour! Make yourself ready to join in a dark daring journey across the forlorn Swedish lands of famine, solitude and long cold winters!
RüPä - NeKronos Promotion HELL
RATE: 9,5/10
VIDEOS:
"The Isolationist" : Videoclip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciDZw2_JXrg
"I Bottenlös Ävja" : Audio Clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvjCre6f8c
"Arctic Light" : Live Video:
https://youtu.be/P5eoiOAkLD0
FOLLOW WORMWOOD ON:
Webpage: http://www.wormwood-official.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WormwoodSWE
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WormwoodSWE
Bandcamp: https://wormwood-official.bandcamp.com/album/ghostlands-wounds-from-a-bleeding-earth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wormwoodofficial/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/officialwormwood
Contact: officialwormwood@gmail.com
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