Isengard - Vårjevndøgn

 

Key Facts

Country: 🇳🇴

Genre: Folk/Black Metal

Release Date: 2nd October 2020

Record Label(s): Peaceville Records

Band Members

Fenriz - Everything

Isengard - A Shape In The Dark

Review

Rating (Out of 5🤘): 🤘🤘🤘🤘

Favourite Track(s): Floating With The Ancient Tide, The Fright, A Shape In The Dark, Rockemillion, Dragon Fly (Proceed Upon The Journey), Slash At The Sun

Darkthrone have long been a staple in my listening for the last couple of years and Fenriz, the man, the myth, the legend has become a cult hero of mine because he passionate about music and stays true to himself. Isengard is Fenriz's solo side project mixing black, death, folk, doom, thrash, and heavy metal as well as ambient and punk all into one musical bundle. With the project's name taken from the Lord Of The Rings, what's not to like? Vårjevndøgn is Isengard's third album and consists of previously unreleased material from Fenriz's own archive, coming 25 years after 1995's Høstmørke. You can tell that the album cover was taken 25 years ago, as Fenriz these days wears a long, manly beard despite not looking much past the age of 32. Recorded with the classic and iconic Necrohell Studio soundscape, it is a raw yet rewarding listening experience as we venture through the vivid and wondrous mind of Fenriz. 

Musically, it is ultimately raw and very punk sounding but also not what you'd expect. There is a plethora of influences underlying every song so the album as a whole will not sound as consistent as some more closed will happily point out. Whilst the majority, from my point of view is quite Black Sabbath sounding, with slow, driving caveman riffs that bludgeon you with groove. It's strange because one moment it's Black Sabbath-esque riffs with Led Zeppelin/Judas Priest style vocals and then you get to Rockemillion which is a whiplash inducing punk/thrash anthem. For me to truly attempt to understand Vårjevndøgn, I had to revisit Høstmørke and 1994's Vinterskugge. Whilst it is clear to see a lot more of a black and death metal influence in those two albums, some of the folk and doom elements have been carried over and become the main focus for the songs on Vårjevndøgn. Either way, the whole album has an interesting atmosphere to it, because of it's wide spectrum of influences and makes it folk metal with an edge, not the happy, foot thumping genre that we know today. What makes this album so enjoyable for me is you have to take it for what it is, raw, rough and in some areas imperfect, that in itself creates a unique listening environment which amplifies the atmosphere and immersive nature of the album from my perspective. Fenriz stated this on Peaceville's Facebook page about the new album "ISENGARD as usual has a soundscape that needs cooperation from the listener to work with, it is not already chewed up and swallowed, here we all have to chip in and hack away to unearth our personal treasures. And this is one of the traits we call CULT METAL, the realm for those of us that enjoy lots of personality and authenticity." (Fenriz, 2020). With that in mind, it is an interesting collection of songs, that no words I can say can properly describe it. You definitely have to do a lot of your own searching in this album to find the gems you want, which isn't an experience you get with many albums these days. One thing I really love though is Fenriz's bellowing and booming vocals, over some raw riffs. Given his work in Darkthrone you'd expect harsh vocals but for those who haven't listened to Isengard before I think it is an awesome surprise. Fenriz also has a great ear for melody, which is demonstrated throughout Vårjevndøgn and no doubt I will have his vocals stuck in my head for the next week! Overall, it is an intriguing selection of songs, that you can enjoy at face value or you can dig around in and find all your favourite aspects. It can come across as quite light hearted but at the end of the day, thats what makes it for me, metal shouldn't always be super serious.

Of course the production is what I have been really enjoying about this album, a raw, unpolished, shaggy and rugged album that I gravitate too. Recorded at the legendary Necrohell Studios between 1989 and 1993, it carries the same ambient soundscape found on many Darkthrone records. With that in mind, I was bound to love it by default really. The guitar tones buzz and fizz through your skull with a vicious punk tone. The bass is equally fuzzy and distorted and doesn't fill the low end like a finely polished product in some songs but instead boots the guitars and allows the kick to carry the low end burden. Whereas in others the bass is all consuming in the low end. The drums themselves sound quite dry, but also super tight in their own way. The slightest bit of reverb can be heard on them which for me is because it doesn't detract from the music (I know from experience that drums with fuck tons of reverb just swallow everything else). With this in mind, everything just blends together to create a very retro sounding album. Overall, its an album with an edge, and I love it. 

So, if you fancy enjoying some vintage Fenriz, get the new Isengard album in your ears now!

Isengard - Vårjevndøgn

References 

Fenriz, (21st July 2020), Isengard - Vårjevndøgn, Peaceville Records, https://www.facebook.com/PeacevilleRecords/photos/a.518649964897073/3043479265747451/?type=3&theater