Yep, an album dedicated to Winter, which is perfect timing as it is just what we are in the throes of at the moment and it’s suitably cold. I would say it’s been absolutely freezing but may end up with writers somewhere really brass monkeys like Russia, Finland or errr Yorkshire writing in and taking the piss about me being a right old softie. Anyhow back to the task at hand and Hermóðr are a Swedish one man outfit helmed by Rafn who also is involved in a veritable horde of other outfits such as Deadlife, Gravsatt, Vargheim, Vredesmo as well as being an ex-member of countless others. This is the first full length from Hermóðr but there have been plenty of demos singles and EP’s both before and it would seem after its release too.
As one would expect just looking at the artwork courtesy Ludwig Munthe adorning the cover this is incredibly naturistic, atmospheric and rather pastoral affair. A gentle and acoustic start on opener Frostfödd (a track title that surely needs little translation) has some raw and primitive black rasps in the background. The album is not fast paced in the slightest, this is slow and lamenting blackness that somewhat plods like a person trying to venture through a mountain of snow getting slowly from one place to another and hoping not to freeze to death in the process. Thankfully it is not boring and as things build with slow drumming and increasingly wretched vocals it’s time to settle down and literally chill out to the lengthy mournful tones of the album. Vocally it is not one dimensional as Rafn adds clean melodic harmonies as well as necrotic screams to this palette which sound full of heartbreak and yearning, delivered with a sense of true skaldic poeticism.
The flow of this is really quite hypnotic, guitar definition is sharp and there is a feel with the blackest shrieks and monotonous slow passages that herald back to old Ulver instrumentally and Burzum vocally. For those that like a doomed sense of funereal blackness this will definitely hit the mark as it treads through woods of pure desolation unhurried in its grief and sombre atmospheres. Vinter is a very insular album and one that should be listened to alone without distraction. It’s perfect listening for hibernation and locking out the world rattling around outside for those of us in built up areas. The one thing that it has failed to achieve is snow to come plummeting out the skies whilst I have been listening to it but that really would be asking for a bit too much and if and when it does this is going straight back on the stereo.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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