Windir - Arntor (1999)^{Release ID: 1429}

The 90's metal scene was all about two things: crossing the dark side to the radio world of alternative and exploring the true darkness by experimenting with the limitations of extreme metal.  In the blackened vein, after Emperor and Cradle of FIlth built up symphonics, and winter atmospheres were growing, Windir took the stage for the raw, untamed sound of old time Scandinavia.  While the viking aspects of the intro sound dated and cheesy, the sound of the rest of the album is quite good.  It fleshes out the style they built for themselves on their debut with a stronger sense of melody.  The production of the edition I'm listening to isn't bad.  I'm given the black metal feel I demand, which is busy, somewhat noisy, and yet clear enough for everything to be properly displayed.  I understand that many RYMers wrote reviews long ago about how the production was below average.  Considering that I may be listening to a rerelease on YT, I have to wonder if they remastered this edition.

As opposed to the outright evil displayed in many different kinds of black metal bands, Windir took a very different approach.  This album shows how far they can go into the triumphant, positive and epic vibes that come with the pride of being a viking.  This is music right of the the ancient North.  And it rarely even takes this direction to weird, seemingly inappropriate directions, like playing up the vibes to an obnoxious extent.  The most obnoxious and not-so-serious thing about this album is the dated intro.  In fact, the album is even so much fun that when I checked the name of the track I was on, The Blacksmith and the Troll of Lundamyri, I didn't realize I had heard four-and-a-half minutes of it, and that I was halfway through.  I honestly thought I was three minutes in at most.  But because the band was focused on developing a sound, there's not a lot of room for branching out beyond that.  In other words, the album is mostly about the identity of the band, and justify it with the skills they have.

This is one of those albums I gave a 100 to when I was first exploring black metal, which was a whole new world for me on a multitude of levels.  But now that I'm much more familiar with it years later, I've been lowering the ratings of many black metal albums.  So I would even go as far as to say that this album is more on the level of Cruelty and the Beast, being a 9/10.  I'm pretty happy about this though, as this common element of my recent reviews showcases how much I've grown and become aware of standards to develop.  This is a fun and influential album, but having started this earlier a few days ago and having fallen out of favor is what lead me to start a plethora of melo-black albums in an effort to find that PERFECT one.  So, Windir's re-evaluation helped me grow and discover something new.

89

Ah, this is my kind of music. I love the more folksy side of black metal. Or should I say, I still prefer my music folk and traditional then I do music considered black. Giving a black metal edge to my black metal is perfectly acceptable, and here is done really well in Windir. This is more than just an atmosphere album, there's a story they're telling and though I don't quite understand the lyrics I can tell it's a story of their ancestors or at least the folk lore stories of their region probably into Viking lore with even slight leanings into Viking metal. With most black metal I get a vibe of cold, depression, sadness, some anger, and other similar feelings. While this album has all that, there is an underlying story here instead of vague poetry sung with an emotional attachment this has generations of history put into this with their traditions to be spread and praised. Gives me more of an appreciation when listening and enjoyment. Something I will go back to, and experience again and again. Not the best album I have heard but absolutely one of the best, maybe a bit too much on the black metal side of things that in my biased opinion kept the true traditions fully coming through and realized but I can't really fault it as it still is better than almost anything in a similar aspect.

The melodic black/folk/viking metal of Windir is perhaps an acquired taste.  With the late Valfar doing nearly everything on Arntor  (barring the drums) including the production and mixing job the album throws up traditional instrumentation such as guitars and keyboards as well as the more folky (or eclectic depending on your viewpoint) accordion for good measure.

To these ears, all the pieces do fit together, to a point at least.  The album celebrates well the historical and mythical aspects of the band's subject matter, embedding well the catchy alongside the more medieval/traditional sounds whilst giving enough space to the more melodic end of the black metal spectrum.  In terms of pace the album has a fair share of variety, adopting a range of always structured tempos that hold the attention well.  The focus is still heavily on the more folk/viking tinged aspect of the sound however and this will please fans of the sub-genre muchly.

You can't ignore the quality of the musicianship on show here with some superb lead work and racing riffage to boot that showcase Valfar's (and some then guest musicians who of course came to be full time band members from the next opus onwards) talent and panache.  The tracks feel well arranged in terms of their individual structure as well as their place in the album as a whole and the album has a real sense of flow.

It is a bit samey though and as such some tracks don't stand up on their own.  Some of this is due to the barrage of styles deployed and some of it due to a peddling of the same ideas that have already been explored on the record earlier.  It was still a step up from their debut however.  The band really hit their stride on 1184 in my opinion and given that record was still some two years away at the point of this release this was still a strong sophomore.