Empyrium - Where At Night The Wood Grouse Plays

Beautiful...what more can I say?

This is a truly beautiful album. Probably the best Neofolk I've heard.

Can't believe the inferiority of this album compared to the first two masterpieces this band has produced. A big letdown for me, but it's mostly due to the fact that the songs are very short and instrumental, because those aspects are things I dislike in general. Also, pure Neofolk just isn't something I like a lot... musically this album is obviously very good, it's just way too short and underwhelming in my opinion.

No words can describe the beauty of this album...

Written by Erik M. on 24.10.2012 at 22:12

Can't believe the inferiority of this album compared to the first two masterpieces this band has produced. A big letdown for me, but it's mostly due to the fact that the songs are very short and instrumental, because those aspects are things I dislike in general. Also, pure Neofolk just isn't something I like a lot... musically this album is obviously very good, it's just way too short and underwhelming in my opinion.

I Agree...

Written by NorthernDickhead on 23.07.2013 at 19:29

I Agree...

Hehe.

Well, I want to add that for me the length of an album is important. And with about 32 minutes this album lacks length greatly (anything below 50 minutes is short in my book). If this was an EP I would've given it a 7 or even an 8, but as a full-length album it's definitely not worth that. Because as I said, the music is good, no denying that... just really underwhelming and not memorable at all.

I also found something totally ridiculous on the Wikipedia site of Empyrium. The following is said about this album and Weiland: "Many people consider these two albums to be the apex of Empyrium's skill and some accomplishment of the band's - or rather Schwadorf's goal."

I really would like to know who these people are, because if you ask me it's exactly the other way around. Probably people who don't like metal at all.

Written by Erik M. on 23.07.2013 at 23:32

Written by NorthernDickhead on 23.07.2013 at 19:29

I Agree...

Hehe.

Well, I want to add that for me the length of an album is important. And with about 32 minutes this album lacks length greatly (anything below 50 minutes is short in my book). If this was an EP I would've given it a 7 or even an 8, but as a full-length album it's definitely not worth that. Because as I said, the music is good, no denying that... just really underwhelming and not memorable at all.

I also found something totally ridiculous on the Wikipedia site of Empyrium. The following is said about this album and Weiland: "Many people consider these two albums to be the apex of Empyrium's skill and some accomplishment of the band's - or rather Schwadorf's goal."

I really would like to know who these people are, because if you ask me it's exactly the other way around. Probably people who don't like metal at all.

Sorry,if you get me wrong. Neofolk isn't my thing as apparently it isn't yours ....I get bored for even that time (32minutes)! But generally i don't care is the album 50 min nor 30 min,it must be only good music.

Written by Erik M. on 23.07.2013 at 23:32

anything below 50 minutes is short in my book

What? I'd say 50 minutes is already above average. Of course, if you mostly listen to doom I can understand that statement, because in that genre the average album is probably around an hour. However, 45 minutes isn't short for a music album in general.
Length is also important to me though, but in many different ways. Some albums are better as 30-minute-assaults, while others can pull off the double-disc-85-minute-journeys.

Written by Zap on 25.01.2014 at 13:33

What? I'd say 50 minutes is already above average. Of course, if you mostly listen to doom I can understand that statement, because in that genre the average album is probably around an hour. However, 45 minutes isn't short for a music album in general.
Length is also important to me though, but in many different ways. Some albums are better as 30-minute-assaults, while others can pull off the double-disc-85-minute-journeys.

Maybe 45 minutes is about average, it really depends on the genre like you said. As I said, musically this album is great but the songs are way too short to really enjoy them. It feels like an unfinished album to me and if this was an EP I'd give it an 8, but as a supposedly full length album it's very underwhelming. And yeah, I think doom albums are a bit longer generally, maybe around an hour on average, but even that is hard to tell. What is your opinion on this album btw? Too short or fine as it is?

Written by Erik M. on 27.01.2014 at 18:44

What is your opinion on this album btw? Too short or fine as it is?

Haven't listened to it yet, I only know the first two, but I was gonna listen to it some time soon. I'll let you know what I think

Written by Erik M. on 27.01.2014 at 18:44
Maybe 45 minutes is about average, it really depends on the genre like you said. As I said, musically this album is great but the songs are way too short to really enjoy them.

If you think the songs are short then it's pretty obvious you don't listen to a lot of (neo)folk music. Most of the stuff in that genre is usually "short" (5 mins is NOT short for a folk song if you ask me... where most bands/artists usually stay at 3-4). To me the length is perfect, just like Ulver's Kveldssanger which is another neofolk album I like a lot... If the songs were longer then it'd be too uneventful in the long run and a bit boring since the ideas during a folk song stay the same for the whole track due to the style being "simpler" (for lack of better term), so short and solid songs are prefered over long ones which might get a bit too monotonous in the long run.

Those are my two cents. No harm meant btw.

Written by Zap on 27.01.2014 at 18:53

Haven't listened to it yet, I only know the first two, but I was gonna listen to it some time soon. I'll let you know what I think

The first two are so much better than the last two it isn't even funny. Then again, it really depends if you're into symphonic/melodic folk doom or just plain neofolk. I happen to like the former a whole lot more, but I still enjoy neofolk when I want to listen to relaxing music. Mostly I listen to Nest or Tenhi and the likes when that's the case, not to Empyrium.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 27.01.2014 at 18:59

If you think the songs are short then it's pretty obvious you don't listen to a lot of (neo)folk music. Most of the stuff in that genre is usually "short" (5 mins is NOT short for a folk song if you ask me... where most bands/artists usually stay at 3-4). To me the length is perfect, just like Ulver's Kveldssanger which is another neofolk album I like a lot... If the songs were longer then it'd be too uneventful in the long run and a bit boring since the ideas during a folk song stay the same for the whole track due to the style being "simpler" (for lack of better term), so short and solid songs are prefered over long ones which might get a bit too monotonous in the long run.

Those are my two cents. No harm meant btw.

I listen to neofolk every now and then, but indeed not too often. And no, 5 minutes is not short at all, but the average length of a song on this album is 3,6 minutes and that is pretty short in my opinion. 6 out of 9 songs are shorter than 4 minutes and none of them exceeds the 6 minute mark. However, I see what you mean and I agree to an extent. If I compare this to my (currently) favourite neofolk album, which is Nest's Woodsmoke, this is still pretty short. Let's forget the track length, but look at the album length: 32,5 minutes. Nest's Woodsmoke is 45 minutes and also has 9 songs, which means the average length is exactly 5 minutes, which is a great length for an album like that. Also, none of the songs are under 4 minutes, which makes them long enough for me to enjoy. Nest's debut was also severly lacking length and their last album is extremely long for a neofolk album: it's 68 minutes and has only 7 tracks, so a whopping 9,7 minutes on average for a track.

Anyway, I'm probably taking it a bit too serious as usual so I'll just stop.

Written by Erik M. on 27.01.2014 at 19:14

Nest's debut was also severly lacking length and their last album is extremely long for a neofolk album: it's 68 minutes and has only 7 tracks, so a whopping 9,7 minutes on average for a track.

Unless the instruments and songwriting is extremely varied, that sound long and boring as fuck. I prefer my (neo)folk to be to point... Well, Uaral's work might be an exception for me since I consider the songwriting to be very good so it makes up for the long songs and also I get some nostalgic memories from Chile, heh.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 27.01.2014 at 19:19

Unless the instruments and songwriting is extremely varied, that sound long and boring as fuck. I prefer my (neo)folk to be to point... Well, Uaral's work might be an exception for me since I consider the songwriting to be very good so it makes up for the long songs and also I get some nostalgic memories from Chile, heh.

I don't consider Uaral to be pure neofolk at all (rather folk doom, as there's lots of doom in their sound), unlike everything by Nest and Empyrium's last two albums. Anyway, I haven't listened to Nest's Trail of the Unwary yet so I can't say whether it's boring or not. My guess would be that it isn't. I've seen some reviews and it's apparently their best work. But I'll know until I listen to it myself of course.

Written by Erik M. on 27.01.2014 at 19:05

The first two are so much better than the last two it isn't even funny. Then again, it really depends if you're into symphonic/melodic folk doom or just plain neofolk. I happen to like the former a whole lot more, but I still enjoy neofolk when I want to listen to relaxing music. Mostly I listen to Nest or Tenhi and the likes when that's the case, not to Empyrium.

I like Empyrium's first two a lot, but I don't really know neofolk that well, so I wouldn't know

Written by Erik M. on 27.01.2014 at 19:23

I don't consider Uaral to be pure neofolk at all (rather folk doom, as there's lots of doom in their sound), unlike everything by Nest and Empyrium's last two albums. Anyway, I haven't listened to Nest's Trail of the Unwary yet so I can't say whether it's boring or not. My guess would be that it isn't. I've seen some reviews and it's apparently their best work. But I'll know until I listen to it myself of course.

I never said they were pure neofolk.
But fact is the amount of neofolk is far more present than doom (or metal at all in the long run).

Written by Zap on 27.01.2014 at 19:25

I like Empyrium's first two a lot, but I don't really know neofolk that well, so I wouldn't know

Yep, the first two Empyrium albums are brilliant. As for neofolk, I would suggest starting off with "Where At Night..." or with Nest's debut:



Both are very easy accessible as both are very short (Nest's debut is even shorter), so if you like that you can check out Empyrium's Weiland (which is much longer) and Nest's last two albums. So far I think Woodsmoke is my favourite neofolk album, but I also like the debut a whole lot. Yes, it's extremely short, but with only 5 songs the length of the songs isn't that short, not to mention the atmosphere is brilliant and therefore I think Nest is better at doing neofolk than Empyrium.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 27.01.2014 at 19:31

I never said they were pure neofolk.
But fact is the amount of neofolk is far more present than doom (or metal at all in the long run).

Well, I just think Uaral is very different from bands such as Nest so I would never compare the two, despite the fact that there's indeed a lot of neofolk present in Uaral's sound.

Written by Erik M. on 27.01.2014 at 19:33

Yep, the first two Empyrium albums are brilliant. As for neofolk, I would suggest starting off with "Where At Night..." or with Nest's debut:

Link

Both are very easy accessible as both are very short (Nest's debut is even shorter), so if you like that you can check out Empyrium's Weiland (which is much longer) and Nest's last two albums. So far I think Woodsmoke is my favourite neofolk album, but I also like the debut a whole lot. Yes, it's extremely short, but with only 5 songs the length of the songs isn't that short, not to mention the atmosphere is brilliant and therefore I think Nest is better at doing neofolk than Empyrium.

I think you already linked Nest in the shoutbox one time, definitely didn't dislike that. I'll look into all of this stuff, thanks for the recommendations

I definetely get the sentiment that the album is considered too short for it's style. However I found it quite enjoyable. I have never been a huge fan of Neofolk although I have always been interested in the genre for the simple reason that it holds some common ground with Black Metal when it comes to atmosphere and scene culture. This album definetely inspired me to check out some other bands of the same style.

Appreciated this time much more. Likely stronger than Kveldssanger as this has impeccable, meandering winter dark flow. A quality of which highlights ever more to me that Ulver is a jar overrated as a whole. They're one of those that listeners feel inclined to like at first but don't pack enough interest after rediscovery, serving to a case of fitting in and being cool when in actuality they're not really all that.

This got me thinking during the same evening how interesting an owl related nocturnal folk album would be along with animals in other landscapes.

Liked the two before more than this one, its beautiful to listen to but it all kind of sounds the same to my ears. I like but this one doesn't do it for me.

Beautiful, intimate album