Det vilde kor

Well, here's the third (and currently latest) album from the Norwegian forest metallers (that's what they call it) Lumsk. I remember stumbling into the record store after a rough night and just looking for something to ease my hangovers - well, this (and Ulver's Kveldssanger) did the trick.

Like the other reviewers I must be quick to state that under no circumstances should you pick up this album if you're looking for something:
a) folk
b) metal
c) folk metal
d) all of the above

This is very far from being metal - sure a few tracks sport a distorted guitar, but mostly it's just soothing tranquillity pop-rock with a very heavy emphasis on the female vocals.

When comparing this album to the two predecessors one cannot help but notice how Lumsk have very obviously progressed (or regressed, your choice) from the very 'eavy metal on the debut to the relaxing melodic stuff here - with the 2005 album Troll caught in between as the bastard child of these two very different genres. Actually, this is sort of like Ulver did on their Bergtatt-Kveldssanger-Madrigal trilogy: A heavy album, a mixed album and a melodic, non-metal album. And this one is of the latter kind.

As mentioned before this stuff is excellent for curing hangovers, and also worth noting is the fact that all the lyrics are from old poems by Norwegian big-shot poet Knut Hamsun. Normally I wouldn't care, but some of the lyrics are quite beautiful (providing, of course, you can understand Norwegian!) My personal favourite of the album must be "Om hundrede aar er alting glemt" (not the Borknagar song of the same name!), which has a beautiful lyric and a somewhat catchy chorus.

If you like to occasionally step outside of the metalsphere and try something else, you could get this - it's nothing special, but it's certainly not bad either. However, if you're looking for metal you best go look for the debut album.

Being a Lumsk fan ever since i heard their first release "Aasmund Fregdegjaevar" 2 years ago, this album was a huge refresher for me. I learned that Lumsk is one of the few bands who can progress away from their original style and still make pure, genuinely listenable albums that do not affect their fans views of them (examples of bands who failed at this are Children of Bodom and In Flames). Lumsk started to progress away from their original Aasmund style (made up of very exotic and folky sounding songs, with fiddle and heavy guitars added) on their 2005 album Troll, and they take it even farther on their third release, Det Vilde Kor. The Norwegian folk metal sextet downplays their admittedly interesting exotic tonal ideas for much more melodic and rhythmic sounding tunes that are very, VERY hard to get out of one's head. However, "Svend Herlufsens Ord, Del III Jeg Har Det" is a definite throwback to Lumsk's original style on Aasmund that many veteran fans will enjoy all the same.


This is a very down tempo album, so if you're looking for bowel rumbling metal with guitars tuned to B playing at 250 bpm in 17/8 time, sorry, but you might want to look somewhere else. Lumsk is quite eclectic, bringing in influences from Norwegian folk music, metal, and most importantly on this release, Norwegian poetry. Det Vilde Kor ("The Wild Choir") is a collection of poetry by the celebrated Norwegian poet Knut Hamsen, and Lumsk pays tribute to him by taking his verses and using them as lyrics. This makes for gorgeous sounding lyrics, with a flowing, rhythmic feel to them, indeed very poetic and nice to listen to. I must say, it's a nice change from constantly hearing cliche lyrics by other bands that i listen to about THE POWER! THE MIGHT AND THE STEEEEEEEEEEL!!! *fist pump*, or "MUTILATING THE SOULS OF THE DAMMNED *grunt* *shakes hair*. I've always been interested in the Norwegian language, and this album is filled with classic poems in the tongue, so it's very interesting in that respect as well.


The highlight of the album for me is "Om Hundrede Aar Er Alting Glemt". This is hands down one of THE most profoundly beautiful songs I've ever heard. My first listen of this song quickly turned into my first several listens, because i hit repeat about 8 or 9 times before i could bring myself to move on to the next track. Its that good. The title translates to "In One Hundred Years, Everything is Forgotten," which fits the mood of the song well. Although relatively simple and slow in structure, this song elicits a feeling that i cannot put it into words, but it becomes evident when one listens to it. Om Hundrede is a duet with Stine Mari Langstrand and another male vocalist, who, while not as skilled vocally, adds a great contrast to Stine's vocals (be sure to check out the video to this as well!). My other favorites included "Godnat Herinde", a beautiful, lullaby like song, and Diset Kvæld", an interesting and catchy romp in an odd time signature.


"Om Hundrede" along with 11 other songs together make up what is in my opinion Lumsk's greatest release to date, and I sincerely hope that i am as blown away by their next release as i was by this!

After being highly impressed by Lumsk's sophomoric Troll, I had high hopes for their next album.

Cue disappointment.

Some words I’d use to describe how I feel toward this album: disappointment, anger, disgust.

Looking for folk? Don't look here. Looking for metal? Definitely don't look here. Looking for something trendy, poppy, and something that sounds like it's straight from the 70's? Look no further!

Almost every song starts off with a very soft vocal line, and yes the singer is exceptionally talented and has an amazing voice (and the producers and band obviously know that, because they put her voice at the forefront of every song, and write every song around her voice), but the feel of the band has totally changed, making her voice far less appealing. This soft vocal line is normally followed by some incredibly light-hearted, poppy yet mellow keyboard, piano or violin melody line. Many songs are so soft it's not even reasonable to call them rock, it's much closer to pop. In most of the songs only a couple instruments play at once - I guess at which time the other members go take a nap. The more involved and active songs remind me of some shitty musical from the 70's or some obscure early prog rock band no one cares about. Seriously, what is this tripe?

There are only three good tracks: the second and fourth parts of the Svend Herlufsens Ord songs (the 8th and 10th tracks), and the third track, Hostnat.

There are absolutely no metal riffs, and not even any distortion on this whole album, with the exception of that third track. I wanted heavy metal riffs, smooth, sweet violin passages, folky vocal melodies, and upbeat drumming - not a half-assed psychedelic progressive rock/pop album.

I'd surmise this is the doing of the band’s sudden attention from mainstream sources. How disappointing. I really wish the singer would join a worthwhile band now that Lumsk has chosen to dismiss folk and metal, that way I wouldn’t feel that this is such a unfortunate case. If you like metal - avoid this.