(written by Islander)
Over the last decade the Swedish black metal band Seid have released five albums, with a sixth one named Dystopolis set for release by ATMF on December 11th. Thematically, they have built a reputation for delving into ancient Norse lore and Viking culture. Musically, they have demonstrated creative progression, sometimes in quite unexpected ways.
The themes of the new album are worth considering before we get to the main point of this feature, which is the premiere of a song from the new album named “Urdseiðr“. Here is how ATMF’s press materials describe them:
L-R: Seidr Jonsson (vocals), Herjann Svolnir (session guitar), Pär Johansson (drums), John Doe (session guitar), Alex “Phil A Cirone” Purkis (bass)
At the heart of Dystopolis stands a confrontation between two worlds. The album explores what happens when the values traditionally associated with the Viking ethos — honor, courage, loyalty, strength, and belonging — are forced into the framework of an increasingly impersonal modern society. Ancient ideals collide with alienation, anonymity, and a world where human connections are increasingly mediated by systems, technology, and institutions…. More than an album about Vikings or the past, Dystopolis is an album about what remains of the human being when the world around him becomes increasingly anonymous.
Now let’s turn to “Urdseiðr“, which by itself musically seems to demonstrate those themes.
In trying to unpack all the startling sensations encompassed by the song one way to comprehend it is as a combination of pairings:
The song’s unorthodox but head-hooking central riff generates a dissonant, barbarically blaring pulse, but in the midst of it the lead guitar also feverishly quivers and soars in fiery tones. The growling bass, which is enormously heavy at all times, nimbly rumbles but also brutishly slugs. The drumming locks into muscle-twitching grooves but also furiously thunders. And the vocals eject rasping snarls and howls of unhinged viciousness but also rise in song.
“Urdseiðr” presents another pairing that’s more overarching, a stark division of the song’s structure. Until about the 3:30 mark it creates an elaborately crafted and exhilarating surge of head-spinning, bone-rattling savagery, and the blaring pulse of that lead riff commands attention every time it leaps out. Although traces of wailing melody also surface, at times the guitars also sound like heroic blasts of war horns.
But at roughly the 3:30 mark the song seems to stop, and when it begins again, after the rumble of thunder, the music creates a dramatic contrast with what has come before. Ancient percussive instruments generate a primitive rhythmic pulse, and clear voices render a solemn harmony, echoing as if reaching us across by-gone millennia. This second phase seems to manifest a transition from unbridled chaos to calm remembrance and reflection.
This one song alone justifies ATMF’s description of the album as one that “expands Seid’s sound into a powerful blend of raw Nordic aggression, progressive structures, haunting atmospheres, and evocative melodies.”
ATMF will release Dystopolis on CD and vinyl LP formats, and orders can be placed now in advance of the album’s December 11 release date. After the links we’re also including a stream of a previously released song from the record, “Wandering The Fields Of The Slain“.
PRE-ORDER – EU:
vinyl: http://tornfromthegrave.com/products/seid-dystopolis-lp-pre-order
CD: http://tornfromthegrave.com/products/seid-dystopolis-cd-pre-order
PRE-ORDER – USA:
vinyl: http://tornfromthegrave.us/products/seid-dystopolis-lp-pre-order
CD: http://tornfromthegrave.us/products/seid-dystopolis-cd-pre-order
SEID:
https://norseblackmetal.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SEIDNorseBlackMetal/
https://www.instagram.com/seid_blackmetal