VINTERSORG

I'm not sure whether I should be ashamed of this (most likely I should), but until now I had not been familiar with this band's work, despite frequently encountering mentions of them in musical circles, and the reviews were always quite warm. Getting acquainted with the sixth full-length from these Swedish Vikings, I didn't discover any particular ecstasy, though I did realize I was wrong to have overlooked this act. I have never been a fan of viking metal, always skeptical of the epic grandeur and pompous, lofty militarism, but Vintersorg (which, incidentally, turned out to be a corruption of the English "winter sorrow") fortunately exhibits almost none of these "shortcomings." The band performs quite pleasant metal with undisguised progressive influences, so significant that at times they prevail over the Viking component. No excessive pomposity or elevated militarism — just beautiful and concise melodicism, well-structured male vocal parts (including multi-part harmonies), and a silvery guitar tone. Even the rhythm section (which sounds top-notch), whose programmed origins I only learned about from the booklet — even it doesn't spoil the album's beautiful and cohesive canvas. Bottom line: an excellent release that will be of interest not so much (or at least not only) to fans of viking metal, but rather to refined connoisseurs of complex progressive musical forms.