Band:	Skogen
Album:	Vittra
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	November 24, 2009
A review by:	Lucas

01. Dimfärd
02. Skuggorna Kallar
03. Eld
04. Ur Mörkret Hon Kommer
05. Höst
06. Vålnaden
07. Skymning
08. Under Fullmånens Sken
09. I Skogens Djup

Skogen, which is apparently Swedish for 'forest', is a Black metal band. Duh. Vittra is their first full-length. Vittra is incidentally also the name of the debut album of their country mates Naglfar. I'll forever hold a grudge against Naglfar for stealing all of Nagelfar's thunder, but that's largely irrelevant for this review and not really true, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it and instead give Naglfar another shot. Yeah.

Why you'd give your album the exact same name as an album that was released fifteen years earlier by a much bigger band is absolutely beyond me. It's not like I'm going to release a funeral doom album ten years from now on and call it The Maniacal Vale, right? Ah well, no one should really care though, I just like bitching about inane details.

Vittra is good. It's 'Folk' Black metal, basically meaning it has a few acoustic sections, an 'epic' atmosphere and the occasional clean chant. And there are keyboards. Oh yes there are keyboards. They're ever-present, but luckily, they're usually very airy and mostly in the background. Dimmu take notes. Actually, come to think of it, the whole thing is pretty airy and, in a way, 'nice'. Of course it's still Black metal, there's the raspy throat-scream and the fast drumming and the distorted and dissonant riffs, but it's still pretty nice and gentle, in a way. Definitely not extreme. Folk Black metal usually annoys the living daylight out of me, but Skogen's Vittra is a-ok. It's not jumpy and gimmicky as most bands in the genre are, it's actually well-composed and easily accessible music. It's all not particularly breathtaking, but it's decent. It's a shame it's an album with great peaks - and a few very dull moments.

They're a calmer and more relaxed cross between Primordial and Moonsorrow with a couple of Drudkh-ish riffs thrown in, that's the best I can say with my limited knowledge of the subgenre. Those that have Lord Of The Rings-swords hanging on their wall and self-made 'bloody daggers' in their desk drawer, check it out.