By Bona Pjarren
Minneriket is a black metal band from Norway, and I believe is the fifth album they have released. The sounds of nature were all recorded by Stein Akslen while on field trips and include owl and wolf sounds. In all, Stein has spent six years working on this album and “it is dedicated in loving memory to those we have lost”. Stein plays guitar, bass, keyboards and sings, so this sounds like a solo album, and he is obviously a very talented man. I am informed that this album might appeal to fans of Myrkur, Jinjer, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy and Evanescence in equal measure, so I am quite looking forward to getting into this review. ‘Gjennom meg går ingen til hvile’ means ‘No one walks through me to rest’.
The first track on the album is ‘Så kald en jord’, which translates as ‘So Call A Land’. I am immediately impressed by its brooding, jazzy but very melodic intensity. It really takes me on a journey. Stein also displays a range vocal of techniques. I can hear there are other musicians that have contributed to this piece, I am afraid I have no further information as to who else is involved though. There are some nice little nods to progressive metal in this first piece and it is very evocative of the Norwegian landscape.
‘Hjemlengsel’, or ‘Homesickness’, is the next track. The opening bars of cello really do heralds a feeling of loss and is further enriched by some beautiful piano. ‘Hjemlengsel’ is a poignant little interlude, gentle and brooding. Frantic with piano and vocals floated ethereally above the maelstrom, ‘Begravelsens hjerteslag’ translates as ‘The Heartbeat Of The Funeral’. It is highly redolent of its subject matter with meandering piano patterns interweaving Stein’s extreme grunts. There is an element of anti-music incorporated into this piece which adds a creepy Gothic feel.
‘Regnbuer i gråtoner’ I think means ‘Rainbow in Shades of Grey’ if my rather poor Norwegian serves me correctly. I love the heavy piano chorded intro to this track accompanied by atmospheric thunder. It strikes me that it really adds to a unique individual sound that there is so much piano on each of the tracks so far and it really helps to pull the album together as a distinctive whole. The female vocals that are also present on other tracks and add a certain ambience to the consistently haunting melodies. This is an epic soundscape of a track with an almost Nightwish (‘Imaginarium’) quality to it.
‘Sorg og savn’, or’ Grief and Loss’ soars away from gentle vocal harmonies to epic black metal inspired grandeur. Again, I am reminded of ‘Imaginarium’, as it feels it could easily become part of a fantasy film scape, it is so dramatic in its approach. Cleverly written melodies and counter melodies entwine to present a stunning piece of music.
‘Solnedgang’ means ‘Sunset’ and is a beautifully evocative interlude of less than two minutes long. What more can I say? It does lead nicely on to the next track. ‘Hvil i fred’ is ‘Rest in Peace’ and continues a more thoughtful interlude before transforming into something much heavier but still melodic and haunting. This track floats along, driven by unrelenting double kicks interspersed by interestingly ambient piano and vocal sections. I can see why this album was six years in the making, it is very well crafted.
‘Forglemmegei’ means ‘Forget-me-not’ and is a classically inspired piece that fits perfectly with the album as a whole. It is an inspired piece of writing and shows that you don’t need to be heavy all the time. It fits so well because even the more driving tracks have beautiful melodies incorporated in them and so a completely acoustic track feels like it fits seamlessly.
‘Nåde’ means ‘Mercy’ and is one of the longer tracks on the album. Again, the elements of anti-music combine in a spacious soundscape before launching into a frantic passage of black metal mayhem. Viola adds a spooky interlude opposed by guttural vocals before again launching into robust slabs of metal darkness. Cello adds to the Gothic broodiness of this epic track. It gives big nods to classical and progressive music in its audacious delivery. It is compelling and hard to define because it is a complex piece of excellent black metal.
I don’t have to translate the last track, as it is simply called ‘11379’, whatever that means? It does have a beautiful classical almost a baroque folk feel to it and is a fitting end to an inspirational album that is compulsive listening because of its complexity.
Overall, I found ‘Gjennom meg går ingen til hvile’ very easy to listen to as a whole. Each track seemed to lead on seamlessly to the next piece and therefore, for me, felt like a concept album or a film score. It hangs together really well as a cohesive piece of work. I highly recommend this marvellous album.
- ‘Gjennom meg går ingen til hvile’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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