
vote
7.0
- Bands:
GNIPAHÅLAN - Duration: 01:13:28
- Available from: 12/25/2024
- Label:
-
Purity Through Fire
Streaming not yet available
“Folkstorm”, the apparently new, third album by Gnipahålan after “I Nordisk Vredeslusta”, which has only been out for a couple of years, comes out a bit by surprise on Christmas Day – with not so subtle irony. Gnipahålan is one of the many musical realities that revolve around Swartadauþuz, a prolific and somewhat bizarre Swedish musician involved in at least a dozen active bands including Bekëth Nexëhmü, Azelissasath, Muvitium or Mushamahhu, just to name those who have received a certain response .
Swartadauþuz, in Gnipahålan, is not completely alone in the composition and performance of the songs (as happens in other situations), but is accompanied on drums by Taaken, a German already seen with Odal, Wolfsschrei and others. Backed by a whole series of more or less big labels such as Amor Fati, Purity Through Fire, Profound Lore and others, for many years we have been offering us his black metal rigorously anchored to the tradition of the nineties.
We are therefore talking about deliberately underground production, black and white covers and, in this specific case, a poorly concealed love for early symphonic black metal and a naturalistic/philosophical imagery.
However, “Folkstorm” is not our new album, but are recordings from 2016, to which the drums were added later and in addition to this, the press notes attached to the album are keen to underline how the voices were recorded strictly in the woods (sic!).
The elements for a black metal experience are truly all there and “Folkstorm” easily keeps its promises right from the start, with an atmospheric intro and “Det Nordiska Urkallet”, an eleven-minute slap that recalls the exploits of Burzum, old Emperor , Obtained Enslavement, early Dimmu Borgir and all the other prime movers of what we now call atmospheric and/or symphonic black metal.
As we continue listening, faster songs alternate with more reflective ones, among which we would like to mention “Blodsband Genom Tidens Gång”, the closest to Varg Vikernes' records from the first period.
The songs are all quite long – around ten minutes – and the overall duration of “Folkstorm” (almost seventy-five minutes) is perhaps too demanding for the casual listener; we don't think it's a problem though, given that the entire artistic world that revolves around Swartadauþuz is designed for a rather specific niche of extreme metal listeners capable of calmly accepting sonic challenges of this genre.
In conclusion, “Folkstorm” is a good product that fits perfectly into Gnipahålan's artistic path, resulting less refined than “I Nordisk Vredeslusta” and therefore also usable by those still looking for the emotions of black metal from a few decades ago. If you're not looking for surprises or stylistic twists, Swartadauþuz has once again hit the mark.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM