Black Cauldron
Link: Black Cauldron
Arvinger is a new Norweigan band that fuses together
nordic folk and black metal into one style. This band
first hit the scene with some tracks uploaded to
mp3.com that were received with open arms by
listeners. Helgards Fall is takes those five original
tracks and adds 4 new ones. The band has stated they
seek to give their music that viking sound. They
accomplish most of what they set out to do on this
release. The music is very infectious for black metal
tastes. It played at a energetic yet controlled pace
throughout the album with slower interludes to create
a full sounding album. The guitar playing is well done
but sounds a bit hollow. Hauk has a lot of talent and
with some big-time production his playing should be
noteworthy. He was into thrash and speed metal before
Arvinger and his roots show. The music is varied with
different riffs and even some cool solos. This is not
boring music. The raw sound of the guitar makes for an
interesting listen the first time through but after
some repeated listens the listener is left commenting
just how good this band can be with label support. The
addition of the keys and fiddle create an atmosphere
that give the music a haunting sound at times. Drums
are hollow sounding as well but would improve vastly
with better production. That aside, the drums keep
pace with the music and add the brutality to the
music. Djerv's vocals are a high pitched screams that
don?t grate listeners. There is a pleasing way to do
high pitched vocals which he seems to have learned.
Intense is a good way to describe the style and effort
in which he sings. What is excellent about his
performance is the way the vocals seem to fit the mood
of the music. There are no moments when the vocals are
out of line with the musical direction. All of the
songs are written in norweigan so without the english
translation there is not much to go on. Lyrics are not
on their website either. Arvinger has a definite style
to their music which is great to hear from a band on
their first release. It is even better to hear them
play with power and intensity. Production holds this
album back from being great. The music needs that
intense, thick sound that a production budget
produces. This is a band that has a lot of talent and
given some help will do some good things. If you like
slow, extreme brutality Arvinger might not fit the
bill but if you like fast, energetic black metal like
Vaakevandring, Kekal or even Antestor Arvinger is a
band to check out. Listeners can get a copy of
Helgards Fall by contacting the band at their website
http://www.arvinger.com 7.5 of 10. Review by Alex.