Oct 092016
 

Rearview Mirror

 

The year was 1996. Two years earlier, Mayhem had released De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Emperor had released In the Nightside Eclipse, and Darkthrone had discharged Transilvanian Hunger (following it in ’95 with Panzerfaust, which was the year when Dimmu Borgir released their debut album For all tid). In the wake of all those landmark releases in black metal’s surging second wave, another Norwegian band named Kvist (“twig”) put out their own debut full-length — For kunsten maa vi evig vike.

Unlike the previously mentioned bands, whose fame has persisted to this day, Kvist never put out another release, and at least so far as Metal-Archives discloses, none of its three members (vocalist/bassist Tom Hagen, guitarist/keyboardist Hallvard Wennersberg Hagen, and drummer Endre Bjotveit) went on to release music in any other metal band.

I discovered For kunsten maa vi evig vike only recently. Although I’m not going to make the argument (though I could, without embarrassment) that it should be accorded equal status with the albums named above, it’s very, very good — and it’s the subject of this Sunday’s backward look at metal from the past. Continue reading »