Band:	Nordvargr
Album:	Re-Awaken
Style:	Ambient, Industrial, Noise
Release date:	June 13, 2011
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Awaken
02. Cellardweller
03. Kretslopp
04. Lament II
05. Exit Deamonas
06. Natt
07. Hascimh
08. Sulphur Mist
09. Seeds Of Blood (Acts 1-2)
10. Seeds Of Blood (Acts 3-4)
11. Dreamstates

Are you familiar with bands like Lustmord, Raison D'être, Necrophorus, etc? Do names like Peter Andersson and Brian Williams mean something to you? Are Cold Meat Industry and Cold Spring two of your favorite labels? Would you mind losing yourself into the continuum of narcoleptic euphoria? Then I bet you're aware of Nordvargr's existence and the figure behind this act, Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (also known for his work with Maschinenzimmer 412 - or Mz. 412). If you didn't understand anything from my previous statements you should know that you just started diving into the unfriendly boiling waters of the volcanic swamp that is no other than dark ambient.

First of all, dark ambient should not be misinterpreted as a music form you can invade any time of the day so as to please your ears. We're talking about background music, or to be more precise, subconscious aural pleasure. You have to keep your mind occupied with something while cherishing the sounds that come to the surface and then everything will take its toll. While you think you don't pay that much attention to the music, believe me, you receive way more than what you'd get while listening to dark ambient with all of your senses targeting right there. It's like a form of consensual hypnosis, the deeper you fall into the subconscious world, the more you understand. And the more you understand the more you get devoured by the music.

Re-Awaken is not a new album. It's the remastered/remixed version of Nordvargr's first solo full-length - Awaken - which was released back in 2002. Henrik resurrects the conflagration almost ten years later and re-awakens the arch nightmare into a more haunting shape. Really, I don't have much to say about the album; it's something you cherish, not something you talk about or start extensive discussions with your friends. Dark ambient and Re-Awaken are more like a personal experience. And if you want company, the best one is the mirror; and I'm not referring to the one you have in your bathroom or anyplace in your apartment. However, I can give some hints 'n tips of what to expect. Take into consideration before proceeding the eerie chant-like key maelstroms that are fading away. We're talking about a horrifying environment that resembles a lot to the first incarnation of the Silent Hill series (PS1). You get a catacomb-like feeling and a ritual-like aesthetic. Re-Awaken is a psychotic experience, an ever-expanding nightmare with all those effects, lurking keys, hearse-tapping spike sounds, horrifying scream-like involvements, slight otherworldly spoken parts, etc.

Drown in the "Sulphur Mist"; or continue your normal life. In the end though, how normal a life can be?