Band:	Nortt
Album:	Ligfærd
Style:	Black metal, Funeral doom metal
Release date:	November 09, 2005
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Gudsforladt
02. Ligprædike
03. Vanhellig
04. Tilforn Tid
05. Dødsrune
06. Ligfærd

The extreme funeral doom one-man project from Denmark. Nortt, managed to prove for one more time the grandeur of mourning through his utterly depressive compositions. 2006 is a year when many extreme doom metal acts managed to release some fabulous works and Nortt's "Ligfaerd" is definitely among them. If characteristics like minimalism, depression, slowness and loss of hope consist of the first words of your very own dictionary then Nortt's latest attempt can be a faithful and worthy companion to walk with you through the fields of oppression.

Everything in this album may sound so simplistic, but when the time comes to listen to "Ligfaerd" as a unity of dirging sounds all the bitterness and all the weeping surround you with death's tender caress. The guitar work is ultra slow and heavy, both the riffing and the wailing floating melodies. The funereal tempo of the guitar riffing with the soul-crushing and weary noisy distortion unfolds slower than the process of lung cancer whereas the lamenting guitar melodies entrance the euphoria of suicide under a darkened sky. Hallucinations of long-lost hopeful memories float like wraiths in the sickening air through the nihilistic keyboard melodies that appear from time to time and enrich the emotionally burdened atmosphere along with some other sound additions like church-bells, screams and such, adding another element to the sound of Nortt. The vocals are definitely unearthly, desperate and asphyxiating grunts that make you shiver with their lifeless aesthetic, pacing in such a unique way with the dreadful soundscapes Nortt tend to present through their compositions. Some percussion makes its appearance slower than you could ever imagine, adding just an imposing feeling in the overall heaviness of the atmosphere. The production is blurry, just like it has to be, evoking a cloud of mist over the compositions!

The atmosphere keeps a balance between nightmare, despair and mourning with the sense of a funeral being always present in the air. "Ligfaerd" is one of those albums that flow as one, the sound concept connects the one song with the other in such a gentle way that you really can't listen to one or two songs and then take off the CD. Once you press the "play" button and "Gudsforladt", the unearthly intro, starts echoing there's no return since you have to cherish the devout serenity of not being, the deathlike feeling of a cemetary at winter, when even death dares not to blossom.

"Ligfaerd" offers 45 minutes of funeral procession, 45 minutes that will make you realise how precious death can be when it leads to utter release. Needless to say that extreme funeral doom adorers should purchase this album at all costs, run faster though than the tempo of Nortt in order to reach someday the music store nearby!