Weekly album: Grimburg - Naturherrschaft

Grimburg - Naturherrschaft

2008 / Pagan metal

1. Einklang

2. Des Walder Mysterium

3. Hexentanz

4. Moria

5. Naturherrschaft

6. Dir Rückkehr Gemaniens

tp5170: How I ever came across such a small release remains a total mystery even for myself but Naturherrscaft was actually one of the first things that got me interested in the whole pagan black metal business. It’s a short but intriguing release rich with ‘misty’ atmosphere you don’t encounter that often. The mixing of the harsh and clean vocals is managed pretty well and it’s in my mind the album’s strong suit. The songwriting is generally not too bad either and the different tracks have totally different themes attached to them. The tracks are also complicated enough to avoid that monotonic feel to them. It’s not perfect album by any means, but it’s entertaining enough to make me spin it every now and then, plus it brings back some good memories..

Kattroll: The weekly album pick wasn't a nostalgia trip this time, for this week's pick, Grimburg's first and last EP 'Naturherrschaft' released in 2008, is a totally new and unknown release to me. The artwork of the album and the genre are promising, so let's roll. 

The album begins with a pretty piano intro, which is joined by electronic sounding baroque instruments. The intro only lasts roughly for about a minute and leads to an atmosphere that comes almost straight from a medieval castle's troubadour performance. The vocals are partly clean vocals, done in a way that fits the theme, and partly rougher vocals. From these two, the latter one hits me a lot better than the former. The third song is sort of more active, still baroque style song. One could almost dance to this, even though this also reminds me of some old video game's soundtrack. 

There were couple of fun parts on the album, but I'm not sure if I had listened to the album to the end, if I didn't have to write about it. If I long for medieval atmosphere with dragons and maids, I'd rather listen to some cheesy power metal or real baroque music. 'Die Rückkehr Germaniens' was absolutely the best song on this album, and I would have loved to hear more music like that, even though it doesn't really stand out from the rest of the pagan metal bands from Germany. 

Orostider: According to metallum, Grimburg was a pagan metal band from Germany and managed to release two demos and one EP. Their logo made an impression on me and I looked forward to hearing this EP. My assumption was that I'm digging into an album by a band similar to Riger, Finsterforst and other German pagan/folk metal with hints of black metal. The assumption was not entirely wrong, but the quality, or the lack of it from time to time, surprised me.

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a horrible album deserving to be burned in eternal fires, but I really don't see myself coming back to this. The worst thing was probably the production. Good production doesn't mean it has to be entirely clear or modern or anything like that. Good production can be lo-fi and messy, but it has to be in balance. That's the thing Grimburg failed to do. It sort of seems like the only thing where they managed to succeed, was the synth sound. And some of the choir parts. The vocals sound like they are glued on top of the rest of the instruments quite often, the drums are either triggered and mixed awfully or programmed with horrific equipment. These two things alone won't ruin an album, but the overall sound and structure of the album just doesn't work. At least for me. 

Understanding why people like this is not even hard. Their way of executing this genre is simultaneously so joyous and eery and they really nailed the synth sound every now and then. Even if the album itself didn't assure me to come back to it, I will probably re-listen 'Hexentanz' occasionally even though it's one of the cheesiest songs I've heard for a while. 'Moria' had its moments too, but the sort of awful moments are just too much. Nevertheless, this was an interesting ride.      

btcarey: After listening to “Naturherrschaft” for the third or fourth time I can comfortably say that I’m quite pleased with this short EP. I really enjoy music that takes the listener on a journey and “Naturherrschaft” does just that. The EP’s intro track features an alluring piano melody, immersing you into the likes of gothic Germany for the rest of the album. By the start of the first song I was walking through a medieval city, surrounded by the chaos of bustling townsfolk and the sound of the choir in a nearby cathedral. The rest of the EP follows in these footsteps rite until the end, with a delicate piano outro easing you back into reality.

While a large portion of pagan metal bands have a pretty dark and cold sound, “Naturherrschaft” has a relatively warm atmosphere, full of energy and life. I mean this EP really pumps me up, makes me want to challenge someone to a sword fight! The music itself is pretty basic. With a few mediocre solos, the guitar is pretty weak. Fortunately the keyboard/pianist makes up for this deficit with creative and suiting keyboard melodies.

Even though the music lacks in depth, “Naturherrschaft” is a fun, easy listen that takes you on a quick journey through the past (about a 20 minute journey to be exact). It is definitely worth a few spins, especially for those that are fans of pagan or folk metal.

Favorite Song: Des Waldes Mysterium

Vitsaus - Ajan ja ihmisen haudoilla

Vitsaus - Ajan ja ihmisen haudoilla 

2004 / Raw black metal

Black metal, especially the rawer form of it, dominated my playlists five or six years ago. My love for the genre has never gone away and my favourite albums from the mentioned years are still among my all time favourites. Vitsaus, and especially this demo of theirs, made a memorable impression straight after finishing the album for the very first time.

'Ajan ja ihmisen haudoilla' is a prime example of how Finnish raw black metal sounds like. This raw lo-fi soundscape is shared by a large amount of bands from the same scene and is often regarded as one of the main characteristics of this scene. Even if the album's (or demo's) overall sound is gritty as hell, the sweet sweet guitar riffs and their grim melodies are completely audible throughout all five tracks. People who state that raw black metal has no melodies, are just plain ignorant and probably aren't used to non-polished sounds.

This is one of the black metal albums I can honestly recommend to everyone into black metal, for this release is easily one of the best Finnish black metal releases to date. Favourite track: "II." 

Weekly album: Wintersun - Wintersun

Wintersun - Wintersun

2004 / Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal

(Extreme Majestic Technical Epic Melodic Metal)

1. Beyond the Dark Sun

2. Winter Madness

3. Sleeping Stars

4. Battle Against Time

5. Death and the Healing

6. Starchild

7. Beautiful Death

8. Sadness and Hate

Brent Carey: Where to begin… I assume most of the people reading this are well versed in metal and have probably listened to Wintersun or at least heard the name. For this reason I will spare everyone the lengthy history of Jari Mäenpää and his creation of Wintersun. This way we can get to the “meat and potatos” of this post before the elusive release of Time II.

To start out with, THIS IS AN AMAZING ALBUM!! I know it’s a little cliché to say, “this album changed my life”, but I am confident that I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Wintersun. This album altered my perception of what not only metal, but music could be. It was my stepping-stone to extreme genres and exposed me to my current home, Finland.

One of the primary reasons for this album’s greatness is its implementation of so many different musical characteristics. It encompasses the likes of melodic death, folk, power, neo-classical, and even a little black metal, giving the album an epic, yet dark atmosphere. If anyone were to ask, “What album would you recommend me as a start line to metal?” I would say with confidence, “Wintersun”. There’s truly something for everyone on this record and whatever that may be; it is done with thee utmost perfection.

The central instruments in the album are pretty standard in comparison to most metal acts. The difference is each instrument is employed with a certain elegance and grace that most musicians could only dream of. Jari, the composer and mastermind behind Wintersun, covers guitar, bass, and keyboards (as well as the mixing and production duties), leaving the drum kit to Rotten Sound’s ex-drummer Kai Hahto. The mastery of each musician’s respective instrument(s) is showcased repeatedly throughout the album. Even though every moment on the album is kind of a Jari moment, one of my favorites is his solo on the track “Winter Madness”.  From soaring sweeps to lightning fast neoclassic runs he gives Yngwie Malmsteen a run for his money (and that doesn’t even include Jari’s ability to compose actual music). In the midst of all this Jari praise Kai cannot be overlooked. His pure stamina and technical ability are extremely impressive and (in my opinion) unparalleled in modern metal drumming.  Some of my favorite Kai moments can be found in the song “Beautiful Death” with his unfaltering blast beats and epic fills.

This album is a piece of art and my favorite record to date. Check this masterpiece out (or if you’ve already heard it, give it another listen) and I can almost guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Favorite Song: Battle Against Time

Orostider: It has been quite a while since I last listened to Wintersun by myself. After 'Time' was released, I sort of lost my interest to Wintersun, for the album was a huge disappointment. Luckily their self-titled album is sort of timeless as it always offers you something. You either notice something entirely new or feel the joyful nostalgia.

The first time I noticed Wintersun's existence was when I had just found out about Ensiferum's first albums and fell in love with Jari's performance. After the first time I listened to the album, I almost instantly thought of it as one of my favourites. This is no longer the case, but the album itself is still an amazing piece of melodic metal, which should be familiarized by everyone into the genre. It's kind of sad that nowadays Wintersun kind of acts only as a nostalgia trip to my early teenage years. Favourite song nowadays: 'Beautiful Death.' 

tp5170: During the years I have started slowly drifting away from melodic death metal stuff but there are still a couple of albums I have a huge respect for. The debut album of Wintersun is one of those. When I originally came across it, I instantly thought that it had to be the greatest thing in the world. I do still think that it’s probably the best the genre has to offer and that’s because it is not afflicted with the problem I have had with almost every album of the genre, - the tracks not coming nicely together.

On Wintersun’s debut I think that every track has its own place and purpose and despite being fundamentally quite different from each other they still work together pretty well. The faster songs are really energetic with their cheesiness and power metal influences, but what strikes me as the most engaging are the slower songs and their simple yet fascinating melodies. I could still easily sit down for the duration of the album and enjoy my time with it.

Kattroll: I already wrote about my undying love for Ensiferum's early albums, so naturally the solo material from the same era impresses me too. Even if I had already listened to Wintersun before, it wasn't until the summer of 2013 that I remembered Wintersun and oh how many times this album spun during the summer. The said summer was a warm and perfect festival summer. Wintersun's performance at Nummirock was one of the festival's best shows.

Wintersun's slot was right after Ensiferum (too bad Mäenpää didn't pay his old band a visit) and we weren't sure if we wanted to go and see Wintersun, for the camping area, alcohol and the grill were calling us to come and in our opinion, Time wasn't as good as its predecessor. I'm glad we went! The first two songs were from Time, both decent live songs, but after them the barrage started: Beyond the Dark Sun, Death and the Healing, Winter Madness and Beautiful Death were played one after another. After that, we were able to return to our camp with joy. Wintersun's set at Ilosaarirock later that summer wasn't nearly as good, but Beyond the Dark Sun felt great while lying down in the sunshine. 

Even if the themes of this album are wintry, this modern classic reminds me of summer instead. 

Acrimonious - Sunyata

Acrimonious - Sunyata

2012 / Black metal

Sunyata is actually a pretty decent album but it’s just rather uninspiring. The sound on the album resembles that of Nightbringer quite a lot and in fact two of the members used to be a part of the live lineup of NB so it’s pretty clear that NB was the major inspiration for this album. Normally this wouldn’t be such a bad thing if there was also something new to be found, but in this case there was basically nothing that would differentiate this album from an average album of NB.

I do believe that adopting some elements from NB and giving it a twist could result in something great, but unfortunately that is not what Sunyata was really aiming to do. I do like the general style of NB so I simply can’t say that I dislike Sunyata, but I was still mildly disappointed with the lack of originality. I’ll definitely listen to it again at some point and see if I could get more out of it, but now it just felt like a simplified version of NB.