‘In Oceans Abandoned By Life I Drown … To Live Again As A Servant of Darkness’ by Nordvargr [ESS008]

I’m a great admirer of Henrik Nordvargr Björkk’s work, not least the recent collaboration he did with Japan’s Masami Akita (‘Partikel’) on the Cold Spring label. Nordvargr, as he is known, is also renowned for his prolific work released under the auspices of Toroidh, Folkstorm, Mz.412, Goatvargr and many others. This time, however, he’s linked up with Brazil’s Essence Music, purveyors of equally notorious projects such as Rapoon, Wolfskin and Merzbow and with whom Nordvargr previously released his ‘Vitagen’ CD in 2005. The art for this six-panel digipack was contributed by Stephen O’Malley of Sunn O))) and Khanate fame and I must say that the green and black imagery with skeletal swirls of silver superimposed on top give the whole thing a tremendously stunning effect. The imagery on the disc itself takes the form of a multi-tentacled beast from the depths, a kraken of legend in silver and grey. The first of these two tracks, which amount to a combined running time of almost fifty minutes, is ‘In Oceans Abandoned By Life I Drown …’ As the opening growl suggests, this album is a long way from Nordvargr’s previous releases, most of which are rather minimalist by comparison. Like a deadly virus launched at the heart of your nervous system, rough crackles build slowly in a dark pit of menace and restrained fury. The volume increases substantially and then gradually evolves into a mighty crescendo filled with deep droning and an air of trepidation and suspense. A less strenuous interlude follows, before the crunching guitar returns with a destructive, Sabbathesque venom all of its own. The results are beyond belief. The calculated surges of energy are stuffed with awesome power and conjure up vivid images of barren seas and watery wastelands lying stagnant in suitably apocalyptic locations. The second half of this release, ‘… To Live Again As A Servant of Darkness’, sounds even heavier than its predecessor. The battering beats that kick ten bells of shit out of whatever it is they’re beating ten bells out of, find themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with an equally no-nonsense barrage of immense guitar laced with shrill frequencies. After seven minutes of unalleviated dynamism, the sound begins to subside a little before a distorted voice and a second rise in volume prepare you for another helping of musical muscle. But instead of the droning guitars there is more of an Industrial feel to it this time, with rattling machinery and earth-shattering thumps taking up the rhythm. The background then morphs into a perpetual dystopia of harsh electronics and breaking glass, deafening in its strength and intensity. Towards eighteen minutes we get into full-on Noise mode, but only for a few seconds before the whole thing almost grinds to a halt and then, like the proverbial phoenix of old, starts to rise again until the spiteful whispers hiss in pairs like a dying steam train above the returning drone. The finale is a metrical tinkering of snares and a hollow-sounding calm in which the power is held under the water like a struggling whore and drowned for good. I can only imagine what it must be to experience this doom-laden bombardment in a live setting, but perhaps one day we’ll get another chance to see Nordvargr grace our English shores with his presence. For me personally, this is one of the greatest albums of the year so far and you can obtain further details and information from here: www.nordvargr.com