Review Summary: Death rock, heavy metal, punk and even indie folk? Fenriz, the patron saint of the old-school dusted some of his old material.
Fenriz's output needs no introduction. However, some of his other material is greatly overlooked or totally forgotten. And the latter was the very case about most of the songs presented in
Vårjevndøgn, because admittedly even Fenriz forgot about these recordings for a very long time.
Vårjevndøgn is a really mixed bag in terms of musical genres or influences, but I think it is completely acceptable for these kind of compilation albums. Basically (with the help of Peaceville Records), Fenriz put together some of his old and (mostly) never heard material, as his tribute to the sound of the underground in the '70s and the '80s. The style of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Black Flag etc. waves at us during the album: the riffs, the vocals, the tempo... everything is all about the old-school-worship, even though it is not entirely successful in some cases. It is very clear Fenriz wrote and recorded all of these only by himself: most of the songs feel rather unpolished and very primitive (even by Darkthrone's standard, for example), and I think quality-wise the album is not entirely consitent. And let's be honest... he is not King Diamond, those high pitched vocals sometimes kinda hurt, man.
You may ask, but how is it still a 3.5 though? Because when it's good, then it is
really good. For example, the main riffs in
Floating with the Ancient Tide,
The Fright,
Slash at the Sun are simply brilliant (even though most of them feel a bit similar to some more famous riffs), and may be stuck in the listener's head for days - which I can say from personal experience. The catchiness, dynamism and sweet old-school production are really captivating. Also, I'd say albums like these bear a certain historical touch which makes them a little bit more special than otherwise - it might go against objectivity, but I can't help myself, I'm very passionate about these materials, because the opportunity to look back into the past through the view of an artist is always special.
As far I've noticed, the album got a very mixed receptions, and many people share the opinion this material shouldn't have been released at all. Personally, I do believe the opposite: it is a very interesting (and fun) listen, proving how many-faced the black metal legend is.
