I denna skog

By this time, black metal has been such a saturated medium that nearly every extremity has been explored. The genre has been cross pollinated with countless others, the trends risen and dispersed, and the general interest has leveled off to a plain of devout appreciators. Love or hate Swedish black metal, the country has produced a large range of artists and imitators, some who cop the style of Norwegian acts, others who strive towards something more unique. From the depressive Shining, to the strict and orthodox Ondskapt, the melodic black/death hybrid of Dissection, or the rigid old school blasting of Marduk, we've surely taken our fill of this nation's dark side, right? Perhaps not, as Dråpsnatt begs to differ with their rather fetching debut I Denna Skog.

Now, to be fair, the individual components of this two piece's sound are not entirely original of their own accord. The higher pitched, tortured rasping recalls Varg Vikernes, the folk elements, which are not necessarily 'folk' as they are just clean guitars and subtle keyboard layers dowsed in vocals or samples, have been offered countless times by other acts. The more aggressive riffing bounces between the raw speed licks of a Burzum, Darkthrone or Mayhem, but they also have some slower, thrashing material which sounds like a mutation of Hellhammer or Bathory. What made this album stand out to my memory is just how well the band is at fixing it all up together into one seamless, flowing tapestry with subliminal visual textures filtering the wide world of pastoral nature and the encroachment of civilization. They've got moments of sorrow, moments of longing, and moments of glory tantamount to all of our hidden emotions, and surprisingly, this is delivered through a fairly pristine mix.

Dråpsnatt are not intent on scarring your eardrums, merely your soul, and they do so with a consistent songwriting process that always evokes some manner of enjoyment. "I Denna Skog" itself is a slow, hammering black/thrash piece with simplistic riffs layered in Vinterfader's Varg like disgust, with some periods of tranquil, synthesizer calm. "Under Fullmånens Sken" opens like a Transilvanian Hunger outtake with added keyboard layer and a less harrowing production, with some dreary clean vocals ala Ulver forming in its latter moments. "Orostider" is almost exclusively this majestic, bleak atmospheric piece with excellent vocals, dreamy and catchy clean guitars textures, and "Fader Frost" teases the same before erupting into more of the sheer Northern might with heavy percussive samples hanging on the brink of perception. Most of the additional tracks are likewise noteworthy, such as the gentle "En Sista Vandring", the Yearning-like "Ett Sista Andetag", or the mead-hall charging hammer breaks and twangy processed clean guitars of "Av Jord Ar Du Kommen".

For a debut, this is impressively polished and diverse. No two songs sound quite exactly alike, though the segments can clearly be categorized into about 3-4 different cycles of mood: fast and standard black metal, slower bombastic Odinthrash, glorious melodic black/doom/folk, and cleaner sequences of pianos and clean guitars. Both of the members are also decent vocalists, from Vinterfader's aggression to Narstrand's tones reminiscent of I.C.S. Vortex or Trickster G. There's a psychedelic undertone to the album, and the band excel at subtleties expressed below the fore riffing. The use of samples as in "Orostider" is curious and welcome, and it appears the band have no qualms about carving anything that audibly fits into the landscape of forest and rock at the foundation of their being. I enjoyed this effort, and look forward to whatever the band can conjure in the future.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Maturity does weird things to regular folk. Although I still do love the odd blast of repetitious black metal, I find myself searching for extravagant bands who’re looking to break the rules more and more often. Three or four years ago I would have had my head tested if I purposely went looking for a band that didn’t live in a perpetual state of monotony, but these days I’m noticing myself change through my music habits. The numerous characteristics of black metal went largely unnoticed by me for many years until I decided to dig up the truth on modern day black metal. Though the traditions stick close to a sense of repetition, the modern day scene is more likely to neglect this side of the genre in favour of something a little more experimental. Dråpsnatt, a two-man Swedish black metal band, are just one of a number of bands looking to insert some much needed invention into the scene. According to the additional information, there are two unreleased Dråpsnatt records sitting around somewhere and on the basis of this effort, I would love to hear them.

Infuriatingly, Dråpsnatt have opted to act in a similar manner to that of Wrest, from Lurker of Chalice, who says that there are several unreleased records by the band lurking around. As a massive fan of Lurker of Chalice, and with my growing faith in Dråpsnatt, I am eagerly awaiting more material from both bands, despite the fact that Dråpsnatt’s ‘I Denna Skog’ was given a proper release through Frostscald Records only two months ago. Such is the brilliance of this record that I am already eagerly awaiting the arrival of a sophomore, which should firmly establish the talented Swedes as one to watch out for in the not-so-distant future. The description of being a black/folk hybrid doesn’t seem to do Dråpsnatt justice, since their music is wider reaching than that description would suggest. Genre tags have always been a pain in the backside, but when they start doing an injustice to a band, causing them to look like your average Scandinavian worship act of the second wave, then something drastic needs to be done.

Also, with a long running debate over the bands agenda, this could cause people to unnecessarily overlook Dråpsnatt in order to avoid the arduous task of discussion political policies within the music scene. The band have already come and out stated that there is no political agenda to this band and that they do not support National Socialist ideologies. To me, there has always been a “type” of sound generated by National Socialist acts which is akin the both folk and Pagan sub-genre. To me, Dråpsnatt are a band who adhere to numerous different sides of black metal, including folk, symphonic and even a dashing of post-rock similar to bands like Britain’s Fen, in terms of how the bass operates within the soundscapes and alongside the guitars, which are brilliantly layered to portray a clean and harsh, dissonant side, as songs like ‘En Sista Vandring’ crucially highlight. I like the contrast between the lightly textured ambiance and the harsher qualities. The production does a good job at encasing these two flavoursome elements into one tight area.

I have read references to bands like Fen being dismissed, but I can definitely hear a similarity, especially in the audible bass section on songs like the aforementioned and when it takes on a rumbling quality during songs like ‘I Evig Tid’. Even the lightly tapping percussion sections remind me of Fen. When the layering of the guitars is taken into consideration also, Dråpsnatt definitely sound akin to bands in a similar vein to Fen as the sweep from a repetitious tremolo style, to an expansive style which welcomes the addition of stirring experimentation. The welcomed addition of experimentation forces this record to be the face of modern black metal as it risks harsh criticism by inviting outside factors into the soundscapes, like the shimmering shoegazing style, or the stimulating symphonic abilities enforced by the keyboards, again shown perfectly on songs like ‘I Evig Tid’, which cruises through sub-genres, one after the other, not intimidated by the potential criticism of being so exploratory.

There are songs which adhere to traditions of bands like Mayhem, an influence I felt at the very beginning, though it was very short-lived. Introductions to songs like ‘Han Faller Plagad Ned’ show a willingness to appease old school fans by utilising distorted tremolo riffs and rasping vocals, but as with most influences within Dråpsnatt’s music, they are short-lived and the inspired soundscapes have no problem moving on to newer pastures in an instance, as shown on the aforementioned song which has the bass and keyboards drift in and out of being audible and accessible to the listener in favour of traditions. When the experimentation takes hold, the traditions are neglected for cleaner sections of instrumentation, including melodic spoken vocals. With the end of ‘I Denna Skog’ comes the beginning of a lot of excitement because this band have a lot of potential, despite the fact that I’m wary that a number of people don’t like this movement in the black metal scene.