Review Summary: Vintersorg stays the course.
Andreas Hedlund, aka Vintersorg (Swedish for ‘winter sorrow’), is one hell of a black metal musician, folks. Starting out as a solo act in 1997, Vintersorg ventured out to create raw black metal music with a catch, Vintersorg wanted to use almost exclusively clean vocals while adding in themes of fantasy, Pagan mythology and the cosmos. He wanted to change some of the narratives that black metal had to be just about praising Satan, wearing corpse paint and dancing around with axes in the forest.
With that being said, I'm not going to pretend like I'm familiar with Vintersorg's solo stuff until now. In fact, this is the sole album I've heard in full released under the Vintersorg moniker, having been introduced to him through his magical and mystical work as the vocalist of Norwegian black metal band Borknagar. His awe-inspiring, soaring clean vocals were what drew me to the band in the first place. Borknagar's
Empricism remains one of my favorite black metal albums mostly because of Vintersorg. So how do I feel about
Vattenkrafternas Spel?
For the most part, it reminds me a lot of his work in Borknagar with a level-up on the folk parts. This album features tons of bombastic, blaring horns and hauntingly serene flute playing. Combining the folk elements with the cosmic-sounding keyboards really creates a fantasy-inspired world that you can dive right into. Opening track, ‘Efter dis kommer dimma’, showcases the incredible work of the keyboards with the flutes sounding off in the background that give off extreme wintry forest vibes. Vintersorg's vocals are excellent as always. His shrieks are menacing and cold and his singing is inviting and hospitable.
Vattenkrafternas Spel is an album that is draped in cheese yet never gets annoying. ‘Malströmsbrus’ is an over-the-top folk metal banger equipped with tons of bouncy, groovy riffage and Vintersorg's diabolical shrieks. Another track like ‘Ur ålv och å’ is just a majestic track with soaring, viking-inspired riffs and splendid clean vocals. The best track here is ‘Regnskuggans rike’ because it's the culmination of the whole album. Booming horns, urgent flutes and a barrage of 90s Norwegian black metal riffs come at you like a tidal wave, overwhelming the listener into an involuntary “stank face” moment. It's just epic in every sense of the word. Lots of Lord of the Rings vibes in the atmosphere and an all around great song.
Having never been acquainted with a Vintersorg album before, I'd say that I'm very happy with my first experience. My main takeaway is that it sounds like a folkier Borknagar with his own spin on things. All of the elements are pretty much the same and that's not a negative at all. Vintersorg seems to stick with what he does best and he does it extremely well. This album isn't the most original thing out there, but if you're a fan of goofy folk metal or melodic black metal in any way, you'll definitely find something to enjoy about
Vattenkrafternas Spel.
