Moonsorrow
Tämä ikuinen talvi


3.5
great

Review

by plutosatanclubhouse USER (13 Reviews)
July 23rd, 2009 | 10 replies


Release Date: 1999 | Tracklist

Review Summary: A major transition for Moonsorrow.

Somewhere in between Moonsorrow’s bedroom black metal beginnings and their becoming a full-fledged Folk/Viking metal band was birthed the very underrated Tämä Ikuinen Talvi demo. While not being as massive and compositionally dense as their subsequent, more Bathory-influenced releases, Moonsorrow makes up for it on Tämä Ikuinen Talvi with more straightforward black metal aggression accompanied by shadowy keyboard melodies that when taken for what it is makes for a great and fairly unique listening experience.

Moonsorrow doesn’t seem at all hesitant to put their love for Enslaved on display on Tämä Ikuinen Talvi. The beautiful keyboard introduction seems almost as if it was lifted directly from Enslaved’s Frost and modified only slightly. Many of the riffs on the demo, especially in the epic “Vihreällä Valtaistuimella”, would seem right at home on one of Enslaved’s earlier albums, employing similar barre chord progressions, similar drumming style, and an almost identical use of percussive transitions. If the saying “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” is at all true, the members of Enslaved would be flattered indeed upon hearing Tämä Ikuinen Talvi.

What separates Tämä Ikuinen Talvi from Enslaved however is its extremely theatrical presentation. Enslaved’s early albums, while managing to be epic as fuck, still had a rather blunt and confrontational tone to them. Moonsorrow on the other hand takes on a much more dramatic and, dare I say, cheesy aesthetic on Tämä Ikuinen Talvi; the whirling keyboard lines combined with the choirs, chanting, and spoken word parts give the demo a bombastic and epic yet undeniably dark feeling that is definitive of the direction they would later take on their full-length albums. Moonsorrow shows no shame whatsoever in their terribly cliché but at the same time impossible not to like use of keyboards, and though they would go on to refine this element of their sound on their subsequent albums, the keyboards serve their oh-so-cheesy purpose here very well.

Despite being a demo, the production on Tämä Ikuinen Talvi is reasonably clear, sounding more like a somewhat shoddy studio recording than something done on an analog recorder. The only real complaint one can bring up about the production is that the volume of the drums in some parts is too low or unbalanced, leaving it sounding like one piece of the kit is triggered and another isn’t being hit at all – a common problem with low-budget black metal recordings. This isn’t likely to cause much grief on the part of the listener however; the demo is quite listenable compared to most black metal of similar stature, and that's saying alot.

On the whole, Tämä Ikuinen Talvi shows Moonsorrow making huge growths on all musical fronts from their previous releases, and gives a good idea of what they have in store for their future releases. If you’re a fan of Moonsorrow’s later releases or folk/black metal in general and find yourself with little to do on a rainy day, Tämä Ikuinen Talvi will do little to disappoint.



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user ratings (52)
3.9
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
plutosatanclubhouse
July 23rd 2009


142 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Album art isn't showing up, how annoying.



Figured I'd review this since it doesn't seem to get any attention anywhere. It's very good, really.

plutosatanclubhouse
July 23rd 2009


142 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

there we go!



comments welcome

Wizard
July 23rd 2009


20564 Comments


I didn't know these guys had anything earlier than Kivenkantaja. Will get this. Excellent review.

Thanntos
July 24th 2009


361 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

As good as Suden Uni and Verisakeet hands down.

jingledeath
July 24th 2009


7100 Comments


great review, i need to get into this band at some point

Athom
Emeritus
July 24th 2009


17244 Comments


cool beans


FrozenVain
August 11th 2014


3043 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

this is good

Amphoteric
August 11th 2014


2014 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

A lot better than Metsa

FrozenVain
August 11th 2014


3043 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

oh yes way better

Vanquisher
November 15th 2019


52 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I just found an unreleased song from this demo they included in that Blood Music boxset.



It's really good, it might even be my favorite out of the demo



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSqkb8BBUlY





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