Sogneriket

I first found out about Windir months after Valfar passed away (it was a coincidence - I had no idea at the time) and I was hooked immediately. I came after the four full length albums pretty quickly, but this demo, "Sogneriket", didn't really hit my radar until a few years later. There's some stuff here that is highly reminiscent of Windir's later work, but there are a lot of elements that are unique to this demo. I feel like a lot of the tracks were highly experimental and Valfar at the time was just a guy who enjoyed making music and wanted to see how he could create a tape. He clearly is displaying some natural talent here, even if it won't get more refined until a little later.

There are three tracks with vocals and five that are purely instrumental, but the three tracks with vocals distinguish themselves well.

First, there's "Krigaren si gravferd", which is actually one of Windir's best tracks in hindsight (though the version on "Valfar, ein Windir" enjoys better production which makes this version feel a little choppier). This track is probably the closest Windir has ever come to black metal. "Krigaren si gravferd" is by far one of Valfar's most intense works, with aggressive riffs and percussion and then his shrieks that try not to get buried in it. The riffing reminds me a bit of early Burzum (self-titled) or Darkthrone's "Blaze in the Northern Sky" but unlike those two albums, Valfar balances the track with a lot of softness and really nails the atmosphere. Towards the end, a lone guitar and keyboards create that mysterious, icy atmosphere that was common in a lot of Norwegian metal in the mid 90s.

"Immortality" is clean vocals only, carried by relaxed drumming, a recurring arpeggio (this comes up a lot in other tracks of the demo), and some background effects. Unlike the previous track, this one is a complete opposite - calming and peaceful. Valfar didn't really do anything like this in later albums.

Finally, the title track sounds like something that was more of a proof of concept before creating the first album, "Sóknardalr". This is more of a middle ground between the first two tracks - it's more metal than "Immortality", but more melodic than "Krigaren si gravferd". I'd say it could appear on an early Dimmu Borgir or Enslaved demo (yes, that's a wide range, but it speaks to how creative Valfar was)

Then there's the five instrumentals, which all have slight variations in their instruments and pacing, but they all converge upon the same feeling. But it goes deeper than that. There's something haunting about this demo and it's difficult to explain in words. But when I listen to any of these five tracks, I get the morbid feeling that Valfar created these songs to play at his funeral. Maybe that's a tacky way to describe this, but there's just something captivating about these tracks. When they don't sound melancholic, even the more blissful passages carry some degree of sadness that can only be used to portray a quiet, peaceful passage into the afterlife. "Norrøn seier" probably sums that up well - it's pretty but the undertone of sadness can't be ignored. And if that didn't convince you, "Fjell og dalar" sounds like it could actually be played at someone's funeral (and it's not just that an organ is used, but more of how it is used). Even the last two tracks sound like they could work in the ending credits of a movie with a somber ending. This isn't Xasthur or anything - the reality is at a surface level, these tracks have a magical and whimsical feel. I'd say the one exception is "Dans på Stemmehaugen", probably the one track that sounds pretty upbeat the whole way through.

I probably went too far down the rabbit hole in this description, but I feel as if the rest of Windir's discography has a lot of this somber, melancholic undertone in a lot of their tracks and when you combine it with the fact of how young Valfar was when he died, I think there's a lot to be said about what's beyond the music. It's eerie. Shoot - doesn't "Immortality" give you eerie vibes when you consider the lyrics and what happened to Valfar? I'm glad this demo existed to see it all get started here.

Now, five instrumentals compared to only three more conventional tracks may be offputting, but at the same time, I wouldn't really want to kick any tracks out. If you never had any interest in Windir, this won't sell you and if this is the first Windir release you're trying, maybe start with some of the full length albums first. But if you've heard a few albums already, you'd be kicking yourself to not try out this overlooked gem.