Einherjer - Norrøn review
| Band: | Einherjer |
| Album: | Norrøn |
| Style: | Viking folk metal |
| Release date: | September 09, 2011 |
| A review by: | KwonVerge |
01. Norrøn Kraft
02. Naglfar
03. Alu Alu Laukar [Ym:stammen cover]
04. Varden Brenne
05. Atter På Malmtings Blodige Voll
06. Balladen Om Bifrost
It was during 2004 Einherjer laid down their weapons and ended their legacy. Once a warrior, forever a warrior and no matter how much your armor has grown old there's always a time to put it on and revive the restless spirit breathing deep inside. That's the easy part of the story, to stand armed and ready. The difficult aspect is whether you're still in shape to let live once again the grandeur of past victories or not. It can always end up in tragedy and blemish achievements that granted you a place in the halls of Valhalla.
So, seven years later here it is: Norrøn, the belated successor to Blot. More apparent than ever before is the vibe that comes forward and the message is quite clear; Einherjer's new effort is in a state of tension. Not only does it boil, but also has the feeling of marching to battle and this is what the opening magnum opus depicts. The moment the keyboards emerge inflicting the overall atmosphere with some sort of devout grace and courage must be the few seconds before the conflict begins. One may notice that they take their time to unfold; it must be the slow but intense thoughts that pass from the warrior's mind knowing that there's always the chance of meeting the funeral pyre.
This is what you have to expect from Einherjer during 2011, an album flirting with war simply because what ends with surrender will most likely begin with war once again. The band proves this time that they have a more straight forward guitar-oriented sound and they have lessened the effect the keyboards had on their music, without them vanishing, though they just limited them so as to strengthen the ambiance they want to bring forth. I dare say there are moments I receive a minimized symphonic vibe that enriches without exaggerating the compositions; and lest not forget some few but spot on Bathory references on some chanting tunes.
If you think you will find in here heroic lamentations like "Howl Ravens Come" then I suggest you go back to Norwegian Native Art and leave this album alone. Yet, if you think you can handle the same band/theme - different vibe/aspect duality of Norrøn this album will reward you. The folk elements are still vibrant, the sing-along clean or hoarse passages are still here, some chants are still lurking. What's missing to a big extent has to be the nostalgic essence they used to possess in their previous efforts which have given their place to an either threatening or epic enthusiasm. There's still elegant melancholy and bitterness like you will notice on parts of "Atter På Malmtings Blodige Voll", but don't expect much. And if you're wondering, there's always an ode to the fallen, "Balladen Om Bifrost" with its internal acoustic beauty that oddly leaves the listener with a positive taste on the lips in the end.
Norrøn may not be their best effort to date - they've composed more beautiful acts - but this is no reason to condemn Einherjer simply because they chose a different mirror of the same prism. And because they don't need accordions, balalaikas, banjos, etc, this doesn't make them any less Viking metal; on the contrary they have the grit to neither exaggerate nor sound like a bunch of homo erectus discovering music in an archaic beer feast. And you have to adore the beautiful and expressive cover artwork, I do believe this tree will be fertile in the near future so as to cherish its blossoms. Fram! Fram! Einherjer!
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
 | Written on 16.09.2011 by "It is myself I have never met, whose face is pasted on the underside of my mind." |
Comments
Comments: 24
Visited by: 243 users
| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702  |
Fuck, I hat to wait until two lines before the end of the review to know you were talking about viking metal! 
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068  |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 16.09.2011 at 18:04 Band profile -> Einherjer -> Viking Folk metal  They've got quite a name in the scene anyway, they didn't appear yesterday
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by KwonVerge on 16.09.2011 at 18:08 Wot? That would have been too complicated... I'm a lazy sod!  Anyway, don't know them, because I must admit Viking Metal is not at the top of my musical agenda... BTW, I think it would help if you put the genre (or an approximation) below the band name and the name of album... or is it too uncool? 
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| NocturnalStalker Metal Addict Posts: 889  |
I still have to check this album out but from this review it seems I won't be disappointed. 
---- "And we are not who we think we are We are who we're afraid to be" - Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068 |
Viking metal is not my finest either, but there are some bands i enjoy a lot, like this one, Windir etc This could be a cool idea, the genre being somewhere above the review, but one of the reasons a band profile exists is this one, to give a generic information about a band, where they come from, when they started, their discography etc.
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by KwonVerge on 16.09.2011 at 18:24 sure, but I click to read the review and then I have to click on the band name to find out who they are if I don't know them. Yes, not very difficult, but a bit annoying and distracting... for example, today, if I clicked on the review and saw it was "Viking Metal", I wouldn't have wasted 5 minutes of my life reading about a genre I don't particularly like... having said that, I didn't even know I could click on the band name to find out who they are...  I did enjoy your prose, nevertheless...
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| KwonVerge Odysseus Elite Posts: 5068 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 16.09.2011 at 19:10 But you read the review, mission accomplished Well, after the first paragraph don't tell me you'd expect glam, gothic, doom or anything else but viking metal
---- Dec. 30, 1334. ...And the whiskey and wine entered our veins when blood was too weak to carry on.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 16.09.2011 at 19:10 Well, let me tell you that the question "do we put genres on the top of the review" has been made before within the staff circle and pretty much everyone agreed: No. For the same reason you think it should be done: Because we want you to waste 5 minutes on our reviews. They are after all, one of the streghts of this site. You did like the prose, that's good!
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Carl Berg Carl Berg Posts: 589  |
Einherjer used to be one of my favorite bands, Blot was awesome. Gonna add this to my to-do list as soon as I drink this Jack Daniels.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 16.09.2011 at 19:40 what's the point in spending (note: I didn't say "wasting" this time) on something I don't like? And I will never like, despite DenRozz good prose? The site should be geared towards what the users like/prefer, not towards what you think we prefer. It's a minor problem for me, nevertheless... you manage your site as you deem fit...
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 16.09.2011 at 21:39 I could go with the "fuck the users"-comment but nah, it's just too easy. This isn't a company or anything that has the main goal of pleasing anybody, the very thought of it is ridiculus to me. The point is that we think is far more interesting for people to check reviews and stay far away from the genre tags, some people (like me) don't really care about it and it would be interesting if the review is intriguing and I end up liking an album from a genre I wouldn't think I might be able to like. It has happened before and it still happens. For people who have some major problems with a certain genre well, sucks to be them, they can check out the profile and that's it. I think it's for the best for people who really want to check out new music regardless of the genre. Also, sorry if this is offensive but an argument about this issue is completely devoid of meaning since you can just click on the band's profile
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Mindheist No Longer Human Posts: 618  |
It's really nice to see Einherjer back on their feet and ready to batter the viking world with scintillating blows from the heart of Norway. Their armors have apparently been hit with rust but their clothes are still blood-soaked and hungry for more frost-bitten battles. I hope it's worth their 8-year hiatus. I was already thinking about giving it a listen but your review was a fun read and your words have convinced me to check it out. On a separate note: Written by Merchant of Doom on 16.09.2011 at 21:39 I totally respect your opinion but I just would like to say something. I think you're missing out on a lot with this attitude. You seem pretty much into doom, I could give you a couple of releases that are widely known as being folk but if you take the grim, the bouzouki, the djembe and the bagpipe out of the equation, you get a quite enjoyable doom-ish sound. The thing is, folk is arguably the "freest", dare I say it, genre of music out there and especially in our metal world. You could combine it with doom, black or even progressive and it won't become any less "folkish". I guess what I'm trying to say is that, and that's just a modest advise, don't dismiss a whole genre of music just because you didn't like what you have listened to so far. It doesn't necessarily mean that it sucks but maybe because you picked the wrong albums. Just keep digging, even nu metal and deathgrind have a golden sound creeping to their backbones, but we are simply "too busy" to see it.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
well, it was only a suggestion... I get the point, but then maybe the review should be more specific. In this case, I had to read the whole lot before I found out what it was. I listened to it and, funnily enough, I didn't like it one bit. You don't want to put tags on music.... fair enough. But everybody does. I suppose I'll have to click on the band name from now on, unless I know the band... on a general note, you seem to assume that all your members should have an encyclopedic knowledge about metal. I don't. You can ask me about 70s prog, though... I like a lot of metal, but I believe that with this attitude (well, fuck the users) you are doing a disservice to the community. But I don't really think you care about that. And I don't think your members care about it either. And you probably shouldn't...
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by Mindheist on 16.09.2011 at 23:16 I'm never too busy to avoid nu metal and deathgrind... I do like folk metal, occasionally, but not Viking... this one was ok - if I have to objective - but I would never listen to it. The point is: I know metal quite well (despite my tongue in cheek statements before) and I know what I like. And I like what I know... sorry, isn't that Genesis? 
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 17.09.2011 at 01:10 Me thinks you took the "fuck the users" comment seriously.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Kuroboshi Posts: 1201  |
Written by Merchant of Doom on 17.09.2011 at 01:10 In many cases, the tag put on a band is so arbitrary that it can in no way justify the music, so I suggest to read the review, or even better, listen to the music. If you spend a year or something on this homepage, you'll become pretty cunning about metal. I read practically all the reviews put out by the staff, and sometimes I find some really awesome new band, but mostly I do it for laughs. And in the process, I've learned a lot about metal. 
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| psychofrench Posts: 9 |
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
I was only asking for something to make my life slightly easier... won't get it, I'll forget it...
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| psychofrench Posts: 9 |
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| Susan Smeghead Elite Posts: 6941  |
Awesome review. I am so excited for this album. I fell in love at Odin Owns Ye All and have never met a band quite like Einherjer So glad they're back.
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Jujitsu-man Ready to ROCK Posts: 39  |
Very far away from the amazing "Blot", in my opinion. But stills a good LP, and it also means that Einherjer are back.
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
This topic deserves the Longest Posts MS Award 2011
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62012  |
Quote: Maybe best quote ever said about old bands new directions what still keeps in own style
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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