Showing posts with label musick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musick. Show all posts
2011/08/24
Panegyrism, I guess
It is happening again: The metal heads don't think it's metal, others think it's too metal.
Zweizz & Joey Hopkins "review" by Vital Weekly:
«While playing this record I was thinking which reviewer would fit this best, but found myself clueless. I never heard of Zweizz and Joey Hopkins, the latter who died late 2008 at the age of 26. The two met through myspace, exchanged musical material and following Hopkins' untimely death Zweizz completed this. Its music that we hardly review - and by that I don' mean popmusic (which we do, from time to time). I can relate to popmusic, but these two men operate with a kind of cyber metal music that is hardly my, nor my fellow reviewer's taste. But always keen to hear something new I played it with interest. I never liked much metal music and I must say I have some difficulty with this lot too, even when some of it is very digital in approach. Its perhaps too much 'boys' music, I think. Maybe also one of those reasons why I don't like metal music. I played it with interest, but I decided it just wasn't for me. (FdW)»
Another one, this one is from Bad Alchemy, rather confusing, but it seems he likes it. And, after all, who wouldn't want to be «das wohl durchgeknallteste Projekt des Satanicpornocultshopkunden»?
«Joseph Hopkins ist 2008 mit nur 26 Jahren gestorben. Dennoch hat sein norwegischer Partner, Svein Egil Hatlevik, eine der schillernden Gestalten der dortigen Metal-Szene, in der der bekennende masturbator, beard enthusiast, noise maker und elitäre Sozialdemokrat mit Dødheimsgard, Fleurety und Umoral die avancierten, extremen und schwarzen Felder beackert, ihre Zusammenarbeit zu einem guten Ende gebracht. Zweizz ist das wohl durchgeknallteste Projekt des Satanicpornocultshopkunden, geprägt von Sarkasmus und 'Eternal Puberty'. Den Ulver-Fans etwa hat er heuer (als 'Vorgruppe') ein Horn aufgesetzt und ihnen was geschissen, statt Andacht gabs erstmal Krach. Auch die Jesterei hier zeitigt hohe Ausschläge auf der Crazy-Skala. Beatgerammel in Gabbertempo, Samplingorgien à la Sir Duperman, Schafgeblöke und Schweinsgalopp, dass die Schwarte kracht. Wo Frederik Thordendal's Special Defects, obwohl ähnlich durchgeknallt und sarkastisch, pathetisch blieb, sind Hatlevik & Hopkins seltsame Clowns, die einen mit Melodien betören, nur um einen vors Schienbein zu treten. Zu flink, um auch nur halbwegs zu verstehen, wie einem da geschieht, spielen sie einen Streich nach dem anderen. Mit eingemischt in den orchestralen Strudel mit hohem Rauschfaktor sind Gesänge bekannter Gestalten der Norge-Szene wie Carl-Michael Eide (Aura Noir, Dødheimsgard, Virus), Jester-Macher Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) und der Trommlerin von Norma Sass sowie die Gitarren weiterer Semigrößen. Auffälliger als Gitarren sind aber Keyboards, Frickelbeats und Samples, die Amok laufen. Wobei jeder Wille zur Macht ('dWill 2 dPower') als kindisch hingestellt wird. Undeutliche Stimmen, verhuschte und verzerrte Gesänge, mehrfach auch aus Frauenkehlen, möchten den Untergang des Abendlandes ums Verrecken nicht verpassen. Wenn schon Apokalypse, dann als Hopsassa, im nacktärschigen Narrenkleid und mit melodiös flatternden Hemdzipfeln. Genre blending is so fucking nineties und out, schreibt Hatlevik in seinem 'A tiny avant-garde metal manifesto'. Ein Gesamtkunstwerk soll es werden, ein Gesamtkunstwerk muss es sein! [BA 70 rbd]»
Zweizz & Joey Hopkins "review" by Vital Weekly:
«While playing this record I was thinking which reviewer would fit this best, but found myself clueless. I never heard of Zweizz and Joey Hopkins, the latter who died late 2008 at the age of 26. The two met through myspace, exchanged musical material and following Hopkins' untimely death Zweizz completed this. Its music that we hardly review - and by that I don' mean popmusic (which we do, from time to time). I can relate to popmusic, but these two men operate with a kind of cyber metal music that is hardly my, nor my fellow reviewer's taste. But always keen to hear something new I played it with interest. I never liked much metal music and I must say I have some difficulty with this lot too, even when some of it is very digital in approach. Its perhaps too much 'boys' music, I think. Maybe also one of those reasons why I don't like metal music. I played it with interest, but I decided it just wasn't for me. (FdW)»
Another one, this one is from Bad Alchemy, rather confusing, but it seems he likes it. And, after all, who wouldn't want to be «das wohl durchgeknallteste Projekt des Satanicpornocultshopkunden»?
«Joseph Hopkins ist 2008 mit nur 26 Jahren gestorben. Dennoch hat sein norwegischer Partner, Svein Egil Hatlevik, eine der schillernden Gestalten der dortigen Metal-Szene, in der der bekennende masturbator, beard enthusiast, noise maker und elitäre Sozialdemokrat mit Dødheimsgard, Fleurety und Umoral die avancierten, extremen und schwarzen Felder beackert, ihre Zusammenarbeit zu einem guten Ende gebracht. Zweizz ist das wohl durchgeknallteste Projekt des Satanicpornocultshopkunden, geprägt von Sarkasmus und 'Eternal Puberty'. Den Ulver-Fans etwa hat er heuer (als 'Vorgruppe') ein Horn aufgesetzt und ihnen was geschissen, statt Andacht gabs erstmal Krach. Auch die Jesterei hier zeitigt hohe Ausschläge auf der Crazy-Skala. Beatgerammel in Gabbertempo, Samplingorgien à la Sir Duperman, Schafgeblöke und Schweinsgalopp, dass die Schwarte kracht. Wo Frederik Thordendal's Special Defects, obwohl ähnlich durchgeknallt und sarkastisch, pathetisch blieb, sind Hatlevik & Hopkins seltsame Clowns, die einen mit Melodien betören, nur um einen vors Schienbein zu treten. Zu flink, um auch nur halbwegs zu verstehen, wie einem da geschieht, spielen sie einen Streich nach dem anderen. Mit eingemischt in den orchestralen Strudel mit hohem Rauschfaktor sind Gesänge bekannter Gestalten der Norge-Szene wie Carl-Michael Eide (Aura Noir, Dødheimsgard, Virus), Jester-Macher Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) und der Trommlerin von Norma Sass sowie die Gitarren weiterer Semigrößen. Auffälliger als Gitarren sind aber Keyboards, Frickelbeats und Samples, die Amok laufen. Wobei jeder Wille zur Macht ('dWill 2 dPower') als kindisch hingestellt wird. Undeutliche Stimmen, verhuschte und verzerrte Gesänge, mehrfach auch aus Frauenkehlen, möchten den Untergang des Abendlandes ums Verrecken nicht verpassen. Wenn schon Apokalypse, dann als Hopsassa, im nacktärschigen Narrenkleid und mit melodiös flatternden Hemdzipfeln. Genre blending is so fucking nineties und out, schreibt Hatlevik in seinem 'A tiny avant-garde metal manifesto'. Ein Gesamtkunstwerk soll es werden, ein Gesamtkunstwerk muss es sein! [BA 70 rbd]»
2010/12/25
2010/12/11
Zweizz on tour with Ulver
Mar 22: Ulver, Virus & Zweizz, Koko London, UNITED KINGDOM
Mar 26: Trabendo Paris, FRANCE
Mar 27: Incorso Rotterdam, NETHERLANDS
Mar 29: Matrix Bochum-Langendreer, GERMANY
Mar 30: Substage Karlsruhe, Baden-Würt, GERMANY
Mar 31: Z7 Basel, SWITZERLAND
Apr 2: Madonna dell'Albero Ravenna, -, ITALY
Apr 3: Szene Vienna, AT
Apr 6: k17 Berlin, GERMANY
Apr 7: Majestic Bratislava, SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic)
Apr 8: Beatpol Dresden, DEU
Apr 9: Biebob Antwerp, BELGIUM
Mar 26: Trabendo Paris, FRANCE
Mar 27: Incorso Rotterdam, NETHERLANDS
Mar 29: Matrix Bochum-Langendreer, GERMANY
Mar 30: Substage Karlsruhe, Baden-Würt, GERMANY
Mar 31: Z7 Basel, SWITZERLAND
Apr 2: Madonna dell'Albero Ravenna, -, ITALY
Apr 3: Szene Vienna, AT
Apr 6: k17 Berlin, GERMANY
Apr 7: Majestic Bratislava, SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic)
Apr 8: Beatpol Dresden, DEU
Apr 9: Biebob Antwerp, BELGIUM
2010/12/09
A tiny avant-garde metal manifesto
A tiny avant-garde metal manifesto – post the banalization of genre blending
(Version 1.0)
I. What the fuck is «avant-garde metal»? The term has been subject to much debate. Is it just another subgenre of metal? If so, «avant-garde metal» is a contradiction in terms. Tails are getting increasingly longer, and insufficient taxonomies do not serve our common understanding of the complexity of phenomena.
II. Avant-garde metal is a strategy. It stems from genuine love for metal music and culture. We who love metal, do not want our metal stale – bereft of vision, ambition, hope, reflection, craftsmanship and imagination. And we certainly do not want it to be impotent or infertile!
III. Blending genres is so fucking nineties. It takes a dimwit to be impressed today with the concept of mixing progressive rock, psychedelia, jazz and black metal. SERIOUSLY! Fleurety did that in 1995, and we were influenced by among others Celtic Frost's 1987 (!) album «Into the Pandemonium». (Note: This does not entail that those who mix progressive rock, psychedelia, jazz and black metal (or whatever) do not sometimes achieve stunning results even today. Examples abound.)
IV. Knowing that genre blending is the new mundane, we must search for other ways to implement our avant-garde metal strategies.
V. Metal – as all forms of music – is wrapped in plastic. That is the way we love it. Thus the physical format is a Gesamtkunstwerk spanning text, images, music, production, typography, design and most certainly many other branches of the arts. This is assumed to be taken as granted. We must therefore seek to holistically integrate every possible parameter in our artworks to make sure the total is qualified «avant-garde» – and that it may justly be categorized as such.
VI. Clearly the parameters in the most dire crisis with regards to metal today are text and visual presentation. The musical parameter is in a crisis too, but there appears to be little to be done with it. With no wars of relevance in our time, we are not able to reap the benefits of arms race. (Yes, I am talking about the amplification of the guitar and the propagation of tape recorders – to name just a few examples.) The technological progress in the field of sculpting new sounds is painstakingly slow, and we cannot allow ourselves to wait for researchers and venture capitalists to catch up with us.
VII: The so-called Web 2.0 has revealed a shocking lack of ambition among younger artists. We, the veterans, the adults, must take responsibility when the new generation fails our proud tradition of incessantly working for the vigour of (extreme) metal!
VIII: The new generation must strive to prove the falsity of point VII.
IX: We must look to reinvent what concepts may be expressed through metal. We must be willing to go to great lenghts to do so. We must be prepared to try every possible style, method and personal degradation to further the progress of the music we so deeply love. If admitting that Jesus Christ was a pretty awesome dude serves our purpose, we must never hesitate to do so.
X: A good manisto is always cocky and ballsy. Cock And Ball Torture is a mediocre grindcore band. Literal cock and ball worship, however, is the superhighway to the future.
(Version 1.0)
I. What the fuck is «avant-garde metal»? The term has been subject to much debate. Is it just another subgenre of metal? If so, «avant-garde metal» is a contradiction in terms. Tails are getting increasingly longer, and insufficient taxonomies do not serve our common understanding of the complexity of phenomena.
II. Avant-garde metal is a strategy. It stems from genuine love for metal music and culture. We who love metal, do not want our metal stale – bereft of vision, ambition, hope, reflection, craftsmanship and imagination. And we certainly do not want it to be impotent or infertile!
III. Blending genres is so fucking nineties. It takes a dimwit to be impressed today with the concept of mixing progressive rock, psychedelia, jazz and black metal. SERIOUSLY! Fleurety did that in 1995, and we were influenced by among others Celtic Frost's 1987 (!) album «Into the Pandemonium». (Note: This does not entail that those who mix progressive rock, psychedelia, jazz and black metal (or whatever) do not sometimes achieve stunning results even today. Examples abound.)
IV. Knowing that genre blending is the new mundane, we must search for other ways to implement our avant-garde metal strategies.
V. Metal – as all forms of music – is wrapped in plastic. That is the way we love it. Thus the physical format is a Gesamtkunstwerk spanning text, images, music, production, typography, design and most certainly many other branches of the arts. This is assumed to be taken as granted. We must therefore seek to holistically integrate every possible parameter in our artworks to make sure the total is qualified «avant-garde» – and that it may justly be categorized as such.
VI. Clearly the parameters in the most dire crisis with regards to metal today are text and visual presentation. The musical parameter is in a crisis too, but there appears to be little to be done with it. With no wars of relevance in our time, we are not able to reap the benefits of arms race. (Yes, I am talking about the amplification of the guitar and the propagation of tape recorders – to name just a few examples.) The technological progress in the field of sculpting new sounds is painstakingly slow, and we cannot allow ourselves to wait for researchers and venture capitalists to catch up with us.
VII: The so-called Web 2.0 has revealed a shocking lack of ambition among younger artists. We, the veterans, the adults, must take responsibility when the new generation fails our proud tradition of incessantly working for the vigour of (extreme) metal!
VIII: The new generation must strive to prove the falsity of point VII.
IX: We must look to reinvent what concepts may be expressed through metal. We must be willing to go to great lenghts to do so. We must be prepared to try every possible style, method and personal degradation to further the progress of the music we so deeply love. If admitting that Jesus Christ was a pretty awesome dude serves our purpose, we must never hesitate to do so.
X: A good manisto is always cocky and ballsy. Cock And Ball Torture is a mediocre grindcore band. Literal cock and ball worship, however, is the superhighway to the future.
2010/11/11
Fleurety «Evoco Bestias» out in December
The song Summon the Beasts off our upcoming 7" «Evoco Bestias» is streaming at the Fleurety Myspace page.
FLEURETY «EVOCO BESTIAS» 7" EP
Artist: Fleurety
Title: «Evoco Bestias»
Label: Aesthetic Death Records
Format: Vinyl 7"
Cat. No: ADEP 003
«Evoco Bestias» features the first new material by Fleurety since 1998. It will be released in December 2010 through Aesthetic Death Records.
Fleurety is a band from Ytre Enebakk, Norway. They have been hailed as one of the originators of the style that has lately come to be known as avant-garde metal, a status earned through their albums «Min Tid Skal Komme» (1995) and «Department of Apocalyptic Affairs» (2000) – plus the EP «Last-Minute Lies» (1997).
«Evoco Bestias» features two songs – Summon the Beasts and Animal of the City. Together they serve as a powerful evocation of the feral spirit in man.
As well as founding members Alexander Nordgaren (guitars, bass) and Svein Egil Hatlevik (vocals), the recording features Andreas Barsleth (drums) and Ayna B. Johansen (vocals).
«Evoco Bestias» was recorded at Crystal Canyon Studios, Oslo in 2008, with the assistance of Tore Ylwisaker.
«Evoco Bestias» is limited to 666 copies. The cover artwork has been made by Trine & Kim Design Studio. The record is pressed on heavy duty grey vinyl.
This release is the second in a series of new Fleurety recordings only available on vinyl. The next release «Et Spiritus Meus Semper Sub Sanguinantibus Stellis Habitabit» can be expected in 2011. The first record in the series, «Ingentes Atque Decorii Vexilliferi Apokalypsis», was released in 2009.
For more info, go to http://aestheticdeath.com/home.php
FLEURETY «EVOCO BESTIAS» 7" EP
Artist: Fleurety
Title: «Evoco Bestias»
Label: Aesthetic Death Records
Format: Vinyl 7"
Cat. No: ADEP 003
«Evoco Bestias» features the first new material by Fleurety since 1998. It will be released in December 2010 through Aesthetic Death Records.
Fleurety is a band from Ytre Enebakk, Norway. They have been hailed as one of the originators of the style that has lately come to be known as avant-garde metal, a status earned through their albums «Min Tid Skal Komme» (1995) and «Department of Apocalyptic Affairs» (2000) – plus the EP «Last-Minute Lies» (1997).
«Evoco Bestias» features two songs – Summon the Beasts and Animal of the City. Together they serve as a powerful evocation of the feral spirit in man.
As well as founding members Alexander Nordgaren (guitars, bass) and Svein Egil Hatlevik (vocals), the recording features Andreas Barsleth (drums) and Ayna B. Johansen (vocals).
«Evoco Bestias» was recorded at Crystal Canyon Studios, Oslo in 2008, with the assistance of Tore Ylwisaker.
«Evoco Bestias» is limited to 666 copies. The cover artwork has been made by Trine & Kim Design Studio. The record is pressed on heavy duty grey vinyl.
This release is the second in a series of new Fleurety recordings only available on vinyl. The next release «Et Spiritus Meus Semper Sub Sanguinantibus Stellis Habitabit» can be expected in 2011. The first record in the series, «Ingentes Atque Decorii Vexilliferi Apokalypsis», was released in 2009.
For more info, go to http://aestheticdeath.com/home.php
2010/08/25
Evoco Bestias
Fleurety «Evoco Bestias» 7" EP, featuring the first new material from Fleurety since 1998 will be released this autumn through Aesthetic Death Records.
More info to follow within short.
2010/07/16
the lyrics for "no clue" from zweizz & joe hopkins as sung by carl-michael eide
the lyrics for "no clue" from zweizz & joey hopkins as sung by carl-michael eide
No Clue
soft, strong, and disposable
two corpses, everything's fine
more fun than you can imagine
not sure when I started thinking this way
beating stars that nobody else wanted to illuminate
giver of breath and bread
the world is changed
Summer ends now; now, now
that taste of myself
sing a thing as everybody rings it, only louder
from the activity of the mind
whoever did this waited until the last second
No Clue
soft, strong, and disposable
two corpses, everything's fine
more fun than you can imagine
not sure when I started thinking this way
beating stars that nobody else wanted to illuminate
giver of breath and bread
the world is changed
Summer ends now; now, now
that taste of myself
sing a thing as everybody rings it, only louder
from the activity of the mind
whoever did this waited until the last second
2010/06/27
a review of an old record
here's a review of "nonsense chamber", an album I made with yusaf from ved buens ende and DHG back in 1996
http://www.lollipop.com/archive_temp.php3?content=issue43/43-4e-01.html
the album itself can be downloaded from here
http://www.lollipop.com/archive_temp.php3?content=issue43/43-4e-01.html
the album itself can be downloaded from here
2010/05/30
some pics from modulert grand prix
i played with torgny amdam at this year's eminent MODULERT GRAND PRIX, and Mette Haugen was kind enough to take some very nice pics.
2010/05/24
2010/04/01
2010/03/31
Stagnant Waters
This february I joined yet another band. This one is called Stagnant Waters, consisting of Camille Giraudeau, Aymeric Thomas and yours truly.
There is one rough mix at our myspace profile at the moment, but there will be more tasters soon, I think.
Camille also has some other bands: Dreams of the Drowned and Smohalla. That goes for Aymeric too: Pryapisme and Lyode.
We are in the process of completing our first album. It will be out some time later this year via Adversum.
2010/03/18
2009/10/22
First review of the new Fleurety EP
From avantgarde-metal.com:
A new vision to behold! A new whisper from ancient configurations! The master of hallucinogenic poisons and herbs has grown out of the earth's deepest labyrinths once more...
It is quite refreshing to welcome back a band as bizzarely out of tune with the current fashions in music and as completely forgotten by their peers as Fleurety. For years, it's never been really clear as to when exactly the experimentalist duo of Svein Egil Hatlevik and Alexander Nordgaren would make their highly expected return to the scene. Neither did they seem to care spreading optimistic signs of their desire to do so. Well, they finally did it, and here we are treated with 2 re-recorded songs from their past catalogue complemented by one short in-between interlude, a re-entrance I was at first a bit skeptical about to be honest. But as with every Fleurety album, one's initial skepticism is only a reactionary facade for the band to fuck with.
Right from the beginning, the deliberately murky-blurry under production on Descent into Darkness is indeed one mighty departure from their three official releases, though it is certainly done with class. Fleurety going old-school black metal? Striborg on 2C-B? Nah... it's much more than that. At last one gets to hear what the band had in mind in 1993, when they recorded Black Snow, their first and slightly scandalous demo. This song not only drowns into fragmented doom, stadium rock, minimalist prog and atmospheric black metal, but it is also drapped in the most cavernous and cryptic sounds you can imagine. Fleurety at their darkest hour for sure. While Hellhammer keeps the pace enjoyable with catchy double kicks and intricate grooves, Runhild Gammelsæter brings back to life the unique vocals Fleurety had come to be known for, as she sometimes sounds like a squealing and burning tire straight outta Hell's inverted highways. Now that woman is a demented freakshow on her own, isn't she! As for the riffs, well it is Fleurety we are talking about, so it's nothing short of unconventional for the genres between which it alternates, except for the fact that it sounds a little bit more primitive and retro than usual. Keeping in mind this was composed in 1993, one can't help but respect the band's daring creativity and weirdness. Also, the odd production they sticked to with this song gives it an experimental edge which is a bit unsettling at first sight. This is indeed an abrupt descent into darkness, now and then ponctuated by colorful diamonds hidden in the sound's funeral dust.
The second band song to be featured is Absence, a composition I'm sure at least some of you have heard in its original clothing. First, I should warn you that this reinterpretation is significantly different in tone from the "Blackend Vol. 1" 1995 version. Whereas this one was a mesmerizing ballad, the new reworked Absence comes closer to punk and thrash. Only some of the riffs, as far as I know, have been incorporated, but both the tempos and the structures have changed into a more energetic layout. As a matter of fact, this is Fleurety in a rush running after its own tail on amphetamines. The guitars are cutting-edge and riff after riff, the song asks for some grim headbanding; underneath you can hear a certain Petter Bernstein playing bass lines like mad. To top that off, Hatlevik's vocals are as digital-necro as only Zweizz can be, and I also have to highlight the drum performance by Bjeima which makes the song so cool and so spicy in some loose 70's way. Absence may be shorter than Descent into Darkness, but what it lacks in time it gains in musical explosiveness and dynamics. The ending disco part, for instance, could have lasted way longer if you ask me, but I guess that's why the repeat button has been invented in the first place. A very entertaining Fleurety top 10 hit had that ever existed...
I wouldn't know if this is avant-garde metal per se and I honestly don't care. My point is, it sounds like Fleurety had a great time in the studio, invited a few friends and ventured into their mostly unknown past for the better or the worst. In my case I would say it's for the better. To hear these recordings will teleport you back to Norway's nineties, and as such it is an interesting trip not devoid of nostalgia for any black metal fan. Of course I'd also like to hear new and fresh compositions by the band, which would make it easier to review their new standards. Let's wait and see where this immersion into the past might lead our two heros. Hopefully, they will not let us wait for another 10 years until next time.
Oliver Side
A new vision to behold! A new whisper from ancient configurations! The master of hallucinogenic poisons and herbs has grown out of the earth's deepest labyrinths once more...
It is quite refreshing to welcome back a band as bizzarely out of tune with the current fashions in music and as completely forgotten by their peers as Fleurety. For years, it's never been really clear as to when exactly the experimentalist duo of Svein Egil Hatlevik and Alexander Nordgaren would make their highly expected return to the scene. Neither did they seem to care spreading optimistic signs of their desire to do so. Well, they finally did it, and here we are treated with 2 re-recorded songs from their past catalogue complemented by one short in-between interlude, a re-entrance I was at first a bit skeptical about to be honest. But as with every Fleurety album, one's initial skepticism is only a reactionary facade for the band to fuck with.
Right from the beginning, the deliberately murky-blurry under production on Descent into Darkness is indeed one mighty departure from their three official releases, though it is certainly done with class. Fleurety going old-school black metal? Striborg on 2C-B? Nah... it's much more than that. At last one gets to hear what the band had in mind in 1993, when they recorded Black Snow, their first and slightly scandalous demo. This song not only drowns into fragmented doom, stadium rock, minimalist prog and atmospheric black metal, but it is also drapped in the most cavernous and cryptic sounds you can imagine. Fleurety at their darkest hour for sure. While Hellhammer keeps the pace enjoyable with catchy double kicks and intricate grooves, Runhild Gammelsæter brings back to life the unique vocals Fleurety had come to be known for, as she sometimes sounds like a squealing and burning tire straight outta Hell's inverted highways. Now that woman is a demented freakshow on her own, isn't she! As for the riffs, well it is Fleurety we are talking about, so it's nothing short of unconventional for the genres between which it alternates, except for the fact that it sounds a little bit more primitive and retro than usual. Keeping in mind this was composed in 1993, one can't help but respect the band's daring creativity and weirdness. Also, the odd production they sticked to with this song gives it an experimental edge which is a bit unsettling at first sight. This is indeed an abrupt descent into darkness, now and then ponctuated by colorful diamonds hidden in the sound's funeral dust.
The second band song to be featured is Absence, a composition I'm sure at least some of you have heard in its original clothing. First, I should warn you that this reinterpretation is significantly different in tone from the "Blackend Vol. 1" 1995 version. Whereas this one was a mesmerizing ballad, the new reworked Absence comes closer to punk and thrash. Only some of the riffs, as far as I know, have been incorporated, but both the tempos and the structures have changed into a more energetic layout. As a matter of fact, this is Fleurety in a rush running after its own tail on amphetamines. The guitars are cutting-edge and riff after riff, the song asks for some grim headbanding; underneath you can hear a certain Petter Bernstein playing bass lines like mad. To top that off, Hatlevik's vocals are as digital-necro as only Zweizz can be, and I also have to highlight the drum performance by Bjeima which makes the song so cool and so spicy in some loose 70's way. Absence may be shorter than Descent into Darkness, but what it lacks in time it gains in musical explosiveness and dynamics. The ending disco part, for instance, could have lasted way longer if you ask me, but I guess that's why the repeat button has been invented in the first place. A very entertaining Fleurety top 10 hit had that ever existed...
I wouldn't know if this is avant-garde metal per se and I honestly don't care. My point is, it sounds like Fleurety had a great time in the studio, invited a few friends and ventured into their mostly unknown past for the better or the worst. In my case I would say it's for the better. To hear these recordings will teleport you back to Norway's nineties, and as such it is an interesting trip not devoid of nostalgia for any black metal fan. Of course I'd also like to hear new and fresh compositions by the band, which would make it easier to review their new standards. Let's wait and see where this immersion into the past might lead our two heros. Hopefully, they will not let us wait for another 10 years until next time.
Oliver Side
2009/09/11
Zweizz live at Musikk, dans of drama
In the summer of 2007 I did some kind of live preformance at the radio programme Musikk, dans og drama, a weekly music show at the student radio in Oslo, Radio Nova.
However, just as we were about to begin the show, the fire alarm wanted to be a part of the concert as well. This is what it sounded like.
Then after a while it all turned out to be a fire rehearsal, no danger after all. Which means there is also a regular boring live recording for y'all somewhere around here.
However, just as we were about to begin the show, the fire alarm wanted to be a part of the concert as well. This is what it sounded like.
Then after a while it all turned out to be a fire rehearsal, no danger after all. Which means there is also a regular boring live recording for y'all somewhere around here.
2009/09/08
2009/06/16
2009/06/11
2009/06/09
Even more Zweizz & Homo Vinter
Here are some photos from last Sunday's Zweizz & Homo Vinter mini tour at the Henie Onstad Art Centre. More photos from the event here. (All pics by Lasse Marhaug)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)