At last! At last after a near 15-year long brooding period of itching
and scratching a band comes along that truly 'gets' what Vikernes tried
to do with ‘Hvis Lyset Tar Oss’ and ‘Filosofem’. At last a band that
remains self-realised in its quiddity as an individual unit without
compromising its undoubtedly black metal identity. At last we hopeless
romantics can let out a sigh of relief (not only because of this
particular release mind you, thankfully as of late there has been an
array of quality albums) who for a few agonising years doubted that
black metal had something cerebral to offer and reluctantly began to
accept that maybe, just maybe, all was naught but a mere outlet for
pubescent angst. Ladies and gents, I bring you ‘Two Hunters’.
Granted, when confronted with this kind of forest-worship, new-coming minds may subconsciously wander towards Dimmu Borgir era ‘Stormblast’, early Emperor or even *gulp* early Satyricon, but WITTR's musical grandiosity lies not in the quasi-Wagnerian counterpuntal bombast of the aforementioned but rather in the smooth unfolding of songs from theme to theme; progressions are simpler yet more fluid, the grandeur subtler yet even more engaging. Their black metal is a prime example of that rarest of species where the distinct synergy of hooking riff-o-genic atmospherics and emergent ethereal ambiance becomes a commanding driving force of mood and song development - much like what Drudkh and Ulver did in ‘Autumn Aurora’ and ‘Bergtatt’ respectively. But comparisons should end here, since both noted bands had different aesthetical conceptualisations in mind. Accordingly, in terms of sheer instrumental proficiency, there's nothing really groundbreaking here, what stands out rather is their compositional strategy in that they fully understand the building blocks that might otherwise constitute a generic black metal album and reconstruct them from the ground-up in an effectively seamless integration of style and form allowing even relatively foreign elements such as doom and ambient to burrow through un-blemished. Indeed, although a majority of the album's constituents (most notably its rhythmical dynamics) may have been channelled straight from the aesthetical fountainhead of Burzum, its sound doesn't need to resort to harsh textures and low-fi dissonance. On the contrary, the warm, expansive production allows for a harmonic resonance that aptly envelopes the -quite familiar- tonality of their elongated guitar-themed passages. As a matter of fact, ‘Two Hunters’ stylistically is more than just an extrapolation of Burzum's expressionistic artistry but a unique and solidly coagulated rendering of the basic essentials and they achieve this with a jaw-dropping flair that puts 99% of a typical black metal collection to shame.
Despite the above, and well-deserved might I add, accolades one shouldn't approach this musical platter as plain black metal, slapping it on his/her CD-player, listening to it a couple of times and then returning to his/her trite little world. It is a delicately higher and more holistic experience. Set against a natural, tree-laden landscape the music becomes a most mesmerising and befitting commentary on the listener's tranquil surroundings - a musical paean to what Thoreau described as the "refreshing, un-subdued presence of natural wildness".
For the few that understand black metal as something more than a mere nominal denotation this offering is wholeheartedly recommended - the rest probably never did.
Granted, when confronted with this kind of forest-worship, new-coming minds may subconsciously wander towards Dimmu Borgir era ‘Stormblast’, early Emperor or even *gulp* early Satyricon, but WITTR's musical grandiosity lies not in the quasi-Wagnerian counterpuntal bombast of the aforementioned but rather in the smooth unfolding of songs from theme to theme; progressions are simpler yet more fluid, the grandeur subtler yet even more engaging. Their black metal is a prime example of that rarest of species where the distinct synergy of hooking riff-o-genic atmospherics and emergent ethereal ambiance becomes a commanding driving force of mood and song development - much like what Drudkh and Ulver did in ‘Autumn Aurora’ and ‘Bergtatt’ respectively. But comparisons should end here, since both noted bands had different aesthetical conceptualisations in mind. Accordingly, in terms of sheer instrumental proficiency, there's nothing really groundbreaking here, what stands out rather is their compositional strategy in that they fully understand the building blocks that might otherwise constitute a generic black metal album and reconstruct them from the ground-up in an effectively seamless integration of style and form allowing even relatively foreign elements such as doom and ambient to burrow through un-blemished. Indeed, although a majority of the album's constituents (most notably its rhythmical dynamics) may have been channelled straight from the aesthetical fountainhead of Burzum, its sound doesn't need to resort to harsh textures and low-fi dissonance. On the contrary, the warm, expansive production allows for a harmonic resonance that aptly envelopes the -quite familiar- tonality of their elongated guitar-themed passages. As a matter of fact, ‘Two Hunters’ stylistically is more than just an extrapolation of Burzum's expressionistic artistry but a unique and solidly coagulated rendering of the basic essentials and they achieve this with a jaw-dropping flair that puts 99% of a typical black metal collection to shame.
Despite the above, and well-deserved might I add, accolades one shouldn't approach this musical platter as plain black metal, slapping it on his/her CD-player, listening to it a couple of times and then returning to his/her trite little world. It is a delicately higher and more holistic experience. Set against a natural, tree-laden landscape the music becomes a most mesmerising and befitting commentary on the listener's tranquil surroundings - a musical paean to what Thoreau described as the "refreshing, un-subdued presence of natural wildness".
For the few that understand black metal as something more than a mere nominal denotation this offering is wholeheartedly recommended - the rest probably never did.
(originally written for Diabolical Conquest - spring 2008)
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