*Creams pants* THANK YOU! I've been meaning to check out Vintersorg for a while, now, and the other group sounds interesting.
I'll review 'em as they come in.
Otyg:
Draughen - Very interesting music. Almost sounds like it's going to have a 6/8 feel, but the extra space turns it into 4/4. Kinda like a latin clave rhythm, I suppose. Vocals sound a bit...odd, though.
I Trollberg Och Skog - Again with the deceptive rhythms! This one feels like a compound time signature with a group of 5 followed by a group of 6, then another two groups of 5. It's deceptive b/c they're taking the same basic theme and cutting off/adding beats, so it actually took me a few listens before I followed that intro rhythm. The vocals are still a little weird, though and kinda a letdown compared to the inventive and creative music. I agree that the production is kinda poor on this album, but the ideas are very fresh.
Trollslottet - better production, cool music, but I still don't like the vocals.
They sound a bit better here. Music's a little more straight forward than the last album, but with some weird noises and effects going on.
Vintersorg
Till Fjalls - Piano intro is cool, the rest of the band interacts with it in a kinda weird way, I didn't expect it to be so upbeat! The riffing section sounds pretty badass, very cleanly done. Vinter still sounds...weird. The notes he chooses and melodies are alot better, but there's something really odd about his clean tone. Scream is much better.
That part where he screams/whispers (somehow?) "TILL FJALLS" was ****ing sweet as hell, and transitioning into a cool *** acoustic guitar break made it even better. Rock!!
Isjungfrun - Guitar intro very cool. Female vocals were unexpected, as was the upbeat nature of the rhythm section. They seem to like doing this alot, pitting an upbeat rhythm section against light piano or guitar. I liked the change into 5/4 in the middle. Vinter's screams there are ****ing brutal!
Svitlvinter - The intro sounds...like Dust in the Wind!
Slightly. Very sweet, though...very chilled and melodic. The distorted guitar section is interesting, some oddly placed accents. This song is all over the place!
Very cool stuff.
Offerbcken - Starts out heavier than the other tunes, but with a consistent melodic quality and lots of things going on below the surface. More of Vintersorg's crazy screams...clean vocals follow. The song really builds up emotionally in an interesting way.
A Dialogue With the Stars - Cool title. Music's a departure from what came before, very interesting. English! Whoa...that's new.
I like the chorus, with the backing vocals and whatnot. It sounds like this is a bit more "catchy" than the other songs, despite being....weirder. I'm not sure how that works, but it does!
Naturens Galleri - Very cool. Again, catchy, but in a way that shouldn't be catchy yet still is.
The Explorer - I've pretty much grown accustomed to NOT expecting Vintersorg's albums to sound all that much alike, but this track STILL surprised me. Very progressive and technical...is this the same drummer? They almost remind me of a cross between Arcturus and Cynic at this point. Vinter's vocal tone has cleaned up quite a bit, I like the way he sounds alot better here. Even his screams sound different. God, this ****ing rocks.
Star Guarded Coronation - I'm really liking the way his clean voice is starting to sound. This is a weird track...very groovy, almost to the point of fusion like Cynic does, and then trippy and spacey at the same time.
The Essence - Well, as I said, I've pretty much come to expect something completely different out of each album....but this still came out of NOWHERE. After a melodic acoustic guitar intro....progressive black...craziness!
This is all over the place. ****, his voice sounds great too...kinda reminds me of Sham Mirrors era Garm in some places.
Microscopical Macrocosm - Definetly a very "proggish" song title.
Weird song....kinda mellow in its own way. For some reason, he's making me think of Mike Patton in Mr Bungle.