Det vilde kor

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!