Review Summary: Harvester of sorrow
Prolific black metal soloists are nothing new. Bathory and Burzum were the originators and later the more notable acts include Paysage d’Hiver, Shining, Esoctrilihum and Midnight Odyssey. All have full creative license and often results in sprawling works with editing not a strong suit. I don’t subscribe to all prolific black metal artists however appreciate their contributions to the cosmos of atmospheric metal.
One such artist that did catch my attention in 2019 was Swede Håkan Eriksson with his second album as Illvilja entitled “The Absence of Light”, which I noted at the time comprised “mid-paced atmospheric black metal powered by double bass drumming and haunting vocals” as peak track “Withering” attests.
Album number five “The Bitter Longing” was the next Illvilja album to come into my orbit and I was pleasantly surprised at the ability of Eriksson to conjure new magic in the sinister melodies at hand. To my delight arrived album number six “Endless Rivers” 18 months later in 2022. Eriksson had some form in consistency but as time has proven, this short suite of tunes in my judgement reigns supreme.
The “Intro” is a spooky combination of wind instruments and a battle scene littered with samples “This is how history is made” and “now let’s have some fun” however their origin escapes me. The first song “Nothing Feels Like Sorrow Does” gets straight to the point - this artist is a tortured soul with sorrow the overwhelming emotion and theme for the Illvilja creature. Musically it’s a minimalist vessel with buzzing guitar, driving bass and three-piece drums enflowered by synths and flutes. Vocally Eriksson employs a gravelly rasp that screams evil in his personal laments and reflections, even referencing his previous album titles throughout in recognition of his journey to date.
Guitars become more prominent in “I’m The Dragon”, a more frenetic black metal blaze, another childhood dirge. The true essence of black metal is felt in these tunes, none more so than “In Solitude” whose morose sense of coldness is delivered via the dark union of synths and reverb. The music is evil but inviting, and strangely hypnotic. Illvilja is no doubt an emotional outlet for Eriksson and I find it incredible that he can repeatedly tap into mournful melodies befitting of his prose to produce another outing of intriguing atmospheric black metal hymns.
The pulse of double kick drumming is used to great effect on songs like “Death is the Truth” which describes a death in the snow, possibly a tribute to the late Valfar of Windir fame who tragically perished in such circumstances 20 odd years ago.
The mood saddens further in “You Are Forever”, a powerful lament of unimaginable loss framed by gentler guitars and accentuated by early Dimmu Borgir style keyboard effects. Eriksson continues to innovate late in the piece with bringing in female operatic vocals in the drowning tale of “Dark Waters” as well as echoes of trumpets, showing versatility and also a nod to a legend in the verse “Falling down into the depths, Of a bottomless tomb, In blindness into the mist, I don’t fear my reaper, As she waits down below, Harvester of sorrow”.
The title track is typically mid tempo and a worthy closer in evoking sinister scenes beyond the album art. A lesser known black metal soloist Håkan Eriksson may be, but the Illvilja serpent should have a greater audience, for all black metal enthusiasts that seek the mournful over the blistering.
