VINTERSORG — Till fjälls, del II (review)

VINTERSORG — Till fjälls, del II album cover

Album · 2017 · Progressive Metal

4/5 · 2017-07-02
Kev Rowland

This is quite a special album in many ways, as it not only looks back to the debut from 1998 both in title and style, but even includes music from before the very first EP. As bandleader Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming) says, “To write a sequel to the first Vintersorg “Till Fjälls” album was something that many people wanted me to do after its release. The second album “Ödemakens Son” was in the same direction but still something different. So, throughout the years that same mantra was often mentioned again and again “you need to do another album like Till Fjälls”. As an artist I’ve always followed my heart much more than my mind, so inspiration and passion has taken us on a journey through different atmospheres and different musical spheres. From the very folk- music-drenched metal in the beginning, to more progressive and complex textures and structures. As time passed by I just started to write more folk music oriented music again, just out of that same inspiration and passion. On the last three or four albums, we’ve in a way spiraled back to the starting origin, but with new experiences and a different stronghold to rest our art upon. So, I wrote some music and it came over me that it was somewhat “Till Fjälls del II” (part II) and after that fire was lit in our hearts it was a very easy choice to put it in that perspective. It’s not an attempt to do a classic sequel, much more like a lost twin finds its other half after many years. They’re connected to each other but with different experiences and perspectives. The included EP “Tillbaka till källorna” (Back to the Sources) is an attempt to portray the time before Vintersorg was Vintersorg. The songs are written in that transition period when Vargatron was put to rest and Vintersorg was given life. Still, these songs didn’t make it to the first EP “Hedniskhjärtad” due to different reasons but has survived in the back of my head, and on some worn-out tapes. When we decided to do the part II of “Till Fjälls” it came to me that it would be nice to really do a new take on these songs, trying to keep the basis of them but just put them into the Vintersorg perspective.”

Joining Andreas was Mattias Marklund (guitars), who joined not long after the debut, and Simon Lundström (bass), who has only been there a few years. This is classic folk/Viking metal, with strong riffs and walls of sound, although they do also bring in some black metal influences here and there. The result is an album that is incredibly powerful, and although I would much prefer a ‘live’ drummer (as they use when they gig), even I must admit that the programming has been done well and isn’t too painful to listen to. They remind me more of classic Dimmu Borgir than Amon Amarth, but that isn’t a bad thing in my book, as this just screams class from start to end. That one man is responsible for all the writing and much of the instrumentation is quite something, and by singing everything in Swedish they add some mystique. They can be emotional and ambient, or powerful and in your face, often within the same song, and it is the use of dynamics which really make this album stand out from the rest.

It has been three years since their last release, but it has been time well spent, and this is an album that any metalhead could do well to discover.