And so, we’re steering way clear of that genre term as we introduce you to I Haggans Afton, the latest album from the wicked Swedish band Bergsvriden, which will see release tomorrow via the Dusktone label.
Even if you’re unfamiliar with Bergsvriden, you could guess that their music has a folk influence, else why would we begin by even mentioning the “folk metal” pigeonhole? But it’s the details that matter, and especially for listeners who might reflexively shy away from anything associated with that label.
Bergsvriden‘s metal framework is predominantly black metal, though that framework often shakes so violently and viciously that you couldn’t stand on it without losing your balance. With a caustic coating, the riffing both slashes and swarms; the drums both rumble and blast; the vocals expel vicious, rasping snarls and strangled screams. But, as we’ll get to below, the black metal ingredients make many unpredictable twists and turns, and other metal genre-ingredients work their way in as well.
It’s even more difficult to describe the “folk” influence, because it’s as much rooted in folklore as it is in folk melody and instrumentation, and in particular some of the more horrifying aspects of Scandinavian folklore — an inspiration that’s captured by the band’s own name, a combination of the word “Berg” (a mountain) and “Vriden” – which means something like “twisted/grotesque/insane”. And so the “folk” influence is often as much a matter of scary supernatural atmosphere as it is a reflection of old melodic traditions.
The album’s introductory track, “I jord och sten“, also seems to embody the meaning of the band’s name. It brings together sounds of mountain thunder, elegant but devilish keyboard chimes, and ominous orchestral overlays. And even the album’s first full song, “Helvetesritten“, calls back to that intro with a brief but spellbinding acoustic interlude that has an ancient (and elegant) resonance.
Acoustic passages repeatedly surface elsewhere (sometimes establishing a song’s principle melody in its overture), and they often bring to mind again ancient traditions, perhaps medieval, perhaps even classical, but also like the stuff of rural peasantry (but again, with roots in the very deep past). And so what is “folk” about Bergsvriden‘s metal isn’t easily pinned down, though all of the changing manifestations are time machines into distant ages.
As hinted at above, the songs that follow the intro (including “Helvetesritten“) are also diabolical, and elaborately so. The drums go off on ever-changing adventures; the vividly whirling lead guitars and rapidly flickering keys are capable of sounding like the ecstasies of devils — wildly dancing and levitating devils; and the songs also sometimes incorporate jolts of rocking groove and brazenly vibrating heavy metal chords, as well as arpeggios whose tones channel wind instruments, accordions, brass, and fiddles.
Some of the songs are more folk-inflected than others, but even those sound devilish, even when they’re not spinning like dervishes or dancing in spinning circles. All the songs conjure visions, visions both sinister and perilous, visions both baleful and bacchanalian, visions of beckoning spells and thrashing knives. To achieve all this, the songs are replete with jaw-dropping displays of instrumental dexterity, whether devoted to ancient or modern traditions, and just as magical as the tales the music tells.
And with that we’ll leave you to enjoy our full streaming premiere of this marvelous album.
Dusktone will release the album on September 12th in jewel-case CD and digital formats, and they recommend it for fans of Finntroll, Troll, Windir, Trollfest, and Taake.
PRE-ORDER:
https://www.dusktone.org/product/bergsvriden-i-haggans-afton/
https://dusktone.bandcamp.com/album/i-haggans-afton
BERGSVRIDEN:
https://www.facebook.com/Bergsvriden
https://www.instagram.com/bergsvriden/
https://www.youtube.com/@bergsvridenofficial3806
https://bergsvriden.bandcamp.com/community