Wormwood - Nattarvet - review
Wormwood - Nattarvet - review
Tracklist
01. Av Lie Och Börda02. I Bottenlös Ävja
03. Arctic Light
04. The Achromatic Road
05. Sunnas Hädanfärd
06. Tvehunger
07. The Isolationist
A review by
nikarg July 24, 2019
Talking about differences, the first and obvious observation is the runtime of the songs; the album clocks in at just under 54 minutes, yet there are only seven tracks in it. The Swedish melodic/atmospheric black metallers have chosen to develop their ideas further and to go for a more epic and gloomy style of songwriting, which makes Nattarvet less catchy than Ghostlands upon first listen. However, the more exposure you have to the album the more its layers are being unfolded and the more addictive it becomes. The melodies that hooked the listener in Ghostlands are still present, but they have taken another form.
In Nattarvet, Wormwood explore the melancholic and forlorn, they dive deep into stories of people forgotten and isolated, and narrate tales of horror and death. While Ghostlands was not exactly a happy album per se, the light would still shine through the leaves of the trees it was engulfed in. Nattarvet, on the other hand, can be best described as Swedish taiga turned into a vast and frostbitten burial ground for those that were struck by deadly winter. The music fits the personal character of the lyrics by being emotional to the point of heartbreak; even the folksy parts, that in Ghostlands sounded "as merry as lambs prancing around in meadows" (©2017 Marcel Hubregtse), now use the violin as an extra instrument for frozen misery to unravel.
I can imagine that many, including myself, wished for Wormwood to release a carbon copy of Ghostlands. However, what differentiates truly outstanding bands from those that no one will remember in ten or so years from now is the will to dare and to evolve and this is exactly what Wormwood have done here. They chose to make the "difficult sophomore album" even more difficult to digest for the listener, but instead of a slump they came up with a triumph that makes you want to get lost in a Scandinavian forest wearing your headphones, far away from everyone.
It is pointless and unfair to single out particular songs. Nattarvet is a stellar piece of music that should only be experienced as a whole.
"My beloved friend
I will never leave these icebound grounds
I will never leave..."
Comments
Comments:
7
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Posts: 545  |
Posts: 545
Probably the blackmetal album im looking forward to the most, even more so after this review.
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Posts: 64484
Nikarg is best ms reviever after derroz left. He writes about great metal bands
---- 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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Posts: 202
It's quite excellent. Between them and Tribulation, Sweden has a lot of interesting atmospheric music coming out. Add Ereb Altor in for carrying the Bathory torch proudly and you've got a great little underground* going. *Yeah, I know -- Tribulation is on Century Media. They still have a low enough profile to count as underground in my book.
---- When you change yourself, you change the world
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Posts: 72  |
Posts: 72
This album is just amazing... Maybe not quite as good as wounds from a bleeding earth but still so very good. Maybe I after a few more spins it will grow on me to be the debut equal
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Posts: 2581 |
Posts: 2581
However if we were to pick a favourite track it will definitely have been the last track, The Isolationist. 
---- Leeches everywhere.
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 Posts: 8263 |
Posts: 8263 Written by tintinb on 24.08.2020 at 03:48 Yes, I agree.
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