One more album that is being released three years after the band's last full-length effort. This madness has to stop! Ok, enough with my nonsense. VINTERSORG seem to have produced one more masterpiece that has arrived from somewhere out of space. The stars have faded, the moon has left the sky and the space lords have come back to deliver one more universal masterpiece.
Formed back in 1994, VINTERSORG have managed to become one of today's top Folk/Black Metal bands. Basically, I learned about this band because of the participation of Steve Di Giorgio (what a fucking great bassist!!!) in two albums, Visions From The Spiral Generator (2002) and The Focusing Blur (2004), both great albums. Now, as VINTERSORG see to have found their home under the name of Napalm Records, they release their sixth album through this label. It is definitely rare to see a band releasing six albums through the same label!
So, after my ENSIFERUM review, one more Black/Folk/Pagan/Viking/Tralala/Full of names style band falls into my hands. I won't try to give a name to their music, but I definitely consider long names stupid. So, even though the home country of this kind of music is Finland, this Swedish duet delivers an ice-cold masterpiece. This album has definitely arrived from outer space and has been forged by some alien dwarves!?!? Even though I can't understand the lyrics, I think they have to do with things like the universe, nature, philosophy and science in general. The band's sound is close to bands like BORKNAGAR, ENSLAVED and THYRFING. There are a lot of Folk and Black Metal stuff, as well as some progressive touches.
Even though every song can be considered a classic VINTERSORG composition, the band has managed to improve its sound, just as it did in The Focusing Blur. The only thing that can be said for sure is that VINTERSORG manage to create better and better albums as time goes by, while maintaining their sound and their identity as a band. Not many bands can do this! The fact is that the specific subgenre of Metal music has many limitations, but thank God (or Thor) bright people like Mr. Vintersorg are still around to crush the borders and broaden the Metal horizon. Did I mention I adore his voice? I guess not. Anyway, Solens Rotter is an album full of classic Black/Folk stuff, but also contains many experimentations. Basically, I could describe this album as the scientific thoughts of two bright men that have been transcribed into notes and lyrics.
I think that this album is appropriate not only for the fans of the genre, but also for a wider range of audience. Black, Heavy, Progressive, Epic and Power Metal listeners should check it out. I think that deathsters and thrashers will not find what they are looking for in this album. Two positive shocks until now (DODHEIMSGARD & VINTERSORG). 2007 is a fucking great Metal year!!!