Wongraven - Fjelltronen (1995)
Light a few candles, darken the room, make sure you are in a very comfortable position and enter Satyr Wongraven's world of dark, creepy forests and the pagan way of life. His only solo project so far, this 30' excursion into folk, ambient and classical music is a journey in every sense. Extremely evocative and trancy stuff. Turn it up as much as you can, it's mostly synth and I remember the booklet stating that all other instruments except for one (I forgot which; I think it was a drum somewhere) were real, so what you get is a very warm sound. Not 'black metal' in the orthodox sense!
Once the first track, a 16' long piece of narrative music, opens with the sound of the wind and deep, wide synths, you soon becomed immersed in pagan hymns, noble warriors and spine-chilling demons. The other songs are shorter, but all 30' of the album fit flawlessly together. From green mountain meadows to bleak, cold tops and all the way down again to the king's drinking hall. A beautiful cd with a uniquely ominous ending...
- Musicians
- S. Wongraven: All lead & backing vocals, acoustic guitars, bass, effects, additional synthesizers and mouth harp
- Ihsahn: Session synthesizers & grand piano
- Hans K. K. Sørensen: Session timphany & medieval military war drum
If you like this, you may want to find out about related bands. Also, I once owned a tape of Pazuzu's And All Was Silent, another brilliant work of atmospheric black metal, this time from Austria - but no more, no more... Oh and I've thatched together an English translation of the Wongraven titles, which are in Norwegian. Hope it helps:
- Mountain Thrones
- That Is the Way of Man 16:33
- Beyond ødemark 03:12
- Up Along the Mountain Sounds a Song 01:24
- It's Time He Gets Buried in Stendagt 08:07
- From the Mountain Thrones 03:21
Total time: 32:37
posted by Paxjorge @ Monday, March 06, 2006
4 Comments:
Hi PaxJorge.
You seem a bit lonely on your blog so though would drop in & say hi.
I downloaded Wongraven - Fjelltronen for a try out & was surprised that I thought it was real cool. Good music to chill out to in dark room as you say.
I'll be back soon to have a better look.
Take care & thanks
Ozzy
Thx man, I'll have a beer on your health! Yeah and if you can let me know what you like and what you don't, I can figure out which direction would be nice to follow in my posts...
Hi man,
I've been listening to this more carefully several times today - it is seriously addictive. Thanks again.
Got anymore of this band ?
I like most musical genres & but normally into rock & metal so all this stuff is kinda new to me & makes a nice change.
I've downloaded everything on your blog & I'll give it a go over the next few days.
Let you know what I think soon man.
Stay cool - have another beer !!
Oz
Wongraven only published one album. I'll try to find some Storm or Satyricon - he was in these bands, too. Also be ready a wave of great black metal coming up. (once I find that goddamn cable for my scanner!!)
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