Jordpuls

Since Vintersorg is surely one of the best known persons in black/viking/folk/progressive metal you should have a certain background knowledge. Therefore I will not describe him or one of his projects. If you do not know anything about him I am sure you will know where to find the informations you want.

The advertising text from Napalm Records promises, that Vintersorg will allow you to glimpse back at the past while you are listening to the new record Jordpuls. So they are promising, that stylistic elements of their first records will be combined with those of the later ones (for instance Cosmic Genesis). To be specific, that means that Vintersorg is supposed to combine the catchy and folky parts of their first records with the progressivity of the later ones, but can the record achieve that?

The balancing act between progressivity and the touch with nature seems to be quite difficult, as they have to catch the calamity of nature and combine that with quick-tempered progressivity. The result of this balancing-act seems to be really good, as the progressive passages could resemble brash phases of nature (such as storms). To be more exact, the compositions are more catchy than those of Cosmic Genesis etc, without losing much raffinesse. The progressive phases are generating a multilayered record, which draw a line from Jordpuls (or Till Fjälls etc.) to Cosmic Genesis etc.

Another element that has increased again are the clean vocals, although Hedlund still manages to switch between those and harsh growls from one second to another. In addition they are using synthesizer sounds repeatedly, as well as sounds from flutes and other folky instruments, to resemble the touch with the nature. The orchestration and clean vocals are therefore creating a good atmosphere. By the way: The vocals are kept in Swedish.

Sadly all that glistens is not gold and so the second half of the record is a bit weaker than the first one. That could be traced back to the first two songs, which are really strong openers. That does not mean that the songs on the second half are bad at all, but they are lacking variation in general, as the distinction between the songs is mostly on a thematic basis. So as not to close with a negative comment, it has to be said that the production is really cool, as it leaves enough space for the music to breathe and therefore, there are melodies all around, even in the smallest gap.

Conclusion:

Jordpuls is a typical Vintersorg record, as fancy melodies and arrangements were again pressed on CD. The musical direction came back to their first records, although they seem unable to detach themselve from the progressivity they once discovered. The symbiosis of their styles is really worth hearing, although there are some weaker songs. You can not really describe the sound of the record, as it is to complex. If you are interested in the record, you should listen to some songs (newer ones, or older .. doesn’t matter) to get an impression of their music.
_______________________________-
nilgoun / http://threnodies.com