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Lord Wind > Rites of the Valkyries > Reviews
Lord Wind - Rites of the Valkyries

A worthwhile tribute to the maidens upon high - 80%

autothrall, November 21st, 2009

People can say a lot of things about Rob Darken: that he's controversial, that he's conservative, that his convictions place him well outside the hellride that is the modern world. But there is no denying the man's ambition, or passion for his works, and his ability to keep separate the politics and art in his endless tribute to his heritage, and the lost pagan culture and arts of Europe. Lord Wind is one of his most interesting projects, in which the raw black metal of Graveland is waylaid for the pomp and circumstance of glorious medieval folk, which he creates through synthesized atmospheres. You could think of it as an extension to some of the intros he has done for Graveland songs/albums, with each album centered around a specific concept. In the case of the third Lord Wind album, Rites of the Valkyries, the focus is the winged warmaidens of Norse legend.

Darken's writing here is far from the minimalism one might expect from a great many of the side projects you hear from many of the 'old guard' in black metal. These songs could very well score a video game or film, though they are performed on a tight budget. This album felt a little rougher around the edges than Heralds of Fight, but the style is largely the same. Synthesized vocal choirs, the crashing of programmed drums, and other keyboard simulations provide the melodies and atmosphere. This would be best compared to Mortiis' earlier work (before he got gothed up) or Summoning (sans the black metal and vocals). It's lo-fi, it's cheesy, and it's also really fun...and engaging.

"Winged Helmets" is the sorrow-sworn opening track, and the 'horns' announce the heraldry of the sky, while cymbals crash and the low percussion thunders, soon eclipsed in male vocal choirs. Immediately I was brought back to the sound programming for 16-bit video games, and how they had to make use of purely synthesized instrumentation to set mood and effect. "The Ancient Beginning" has beautiful percussion which rolls into huge horns which could have easily scored a Conan sequel, and again the booming male vocal choirs sound endearing in their digitized form. This is quite an excellent track, one of the better here. "Prophecy of the Norns" is more laid back and ancient feeling, as the keyboards vibrate off in the distance, the percussion rolling beneath like the kingdoms of clouds that must have one supported these battle angels. "Father of Wisdom" is like a creeping frost that arrives to envelop an ancient, staring statue. The track is amazingly evocative, one need only close his eyes while listening to see Odin's single eye staring at you, in both curiosity and judgment.

The next track, "Atlantean Monument", would coincidentally be used as the title of the Lord Wind album to succeed this. The song itself has synthesized horns and violins which write across the percussion. It wasn't my favorite here, the selection of notes does not inspire much attention, and even the subtle shifts of the track do not heighten its value. "Rhinemaiden's Lamentation" is a slow, sad piece with the male choirs buzzing directly through the center, and angelic female choirs joining them for a glorious cathedral-like atmosphere. Pipes enter into the middle of the track, just enough to hold interest as they wind back into the 'vocal' melody. "Dance of War" has the most uncouth, soundtrack feel here, it literally sounds like an orchestra being synthesized, with brooding, deep drums and horns which call out the brazen madness of warfare. It's easily one of the more memorable tracks on the album. "Horn of the Summoning" ends the original album (the 2006 re-issue has a 17 minute bonus track, but I don't have that) with some more brazen, Conan-like momentum.

Rites of the Valkyries, like most of Lord Wind's material, is perfect for several occasions. Table top gaming with your friends, reading something epic, or playing on the computer are all suitable, or when strolling outdoors in a temperate clime. I suggest these not to trivialize the effort, but to give examples of experiences the music can enrich. As I mentioned above, the lo-fi recording of the tracks does give it a cheesy flair, but it can't be helped. For what it's worth, it is a fine album to listen through, and one of his better efforts outside Graveland.

Highlights: The Ancient Beginning, Prophecy of the Norns, Father of Wisdom, Dance of War

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Yawn - 20%

the_empyreal_lexicon, December 5th, 2007

I had been looking forward to hearing Lord Wind for a long time as i've been a fan of Graveland for some time now, so when an opportunity arose to get some material from the band (through the review pool) I jumped at the chance. Too bad this album is a complete waste of time.

To make it clear, there isn't a shred of metal on this album. Darken instead decided to use a synthesizer and some extremely boring patches. The production isn't too bad, but you can't go far wrong with such a simple set up, this could have been made in an hour with a casio and a laptop (at least thats how it sounds).

Every single song (I use the term loosely) follows a very linear pattern and structure. It goes something like this (mix it up for certain tracks)...
few seconds of ambient noise - reedy sounding keyboard patch playing boring uninspired "melody" - slight breakdown - choir sounds - end. As has previously been mentioned, the result is extremely predictable and sleep inducing background noise. There is no emotion in the music, there is no excitement or artistic flair, just extremely mediocre music that would be better suited on a RPG game like Runescape.

My advice is as follows, Avoid this pointless detour into Darken's medieval ambient circle jerk unless of course your looking for a cheap cure for insomnia.

The ancient ones reborn. - 90%

I_am_thy_abyss, July 7th, 2004

This is a bit different creation from Lord Wind’s previous creations. In the past, we saw a more ancient and tribal album with Forgotten Songs, war is present in every sound here. Then, it was created Heralds of Fight, more experimental and atmospheric, it haves more connections to the ambiental and modern fraction with the keyboards, but ancient as well. And this album, The Rites of Valkyries, it’s a kind of mature evolution from this two creations; it is like a simpler Heralds of Fight, with rigid folk roots and ancient filling, a union with Forgotten Songs, but not as raged and primitive like this one.
The themes are still the same, ancient gods, the war, glory, honour, nature from the past and more specific the stories of the Valkyries, the messengers of the great Odin. In this album we see all this, but transmitted to us without lyrics, just sounds, allusive to the absence of the grotesque humanity and superiority of pagan gods. The group of sounds in each track, reproduce the story or action that the name of the music should transmit with an absolute perfection, we have for example the “Dance of War”, a very schizophrenic track, that transmit a certain suffer and pain with the spiky violins and violent but calm percussion. In this album we can ear atmospheric and simple keyboards, watered with some ancestral, waved and singed choir voices, remembering the middle ages and the Viking gods, male voices are the majority, but we can see female voices too. A great and epic folk sound haves always the presence in Lord Wind, and The Rites of Valkyries is not a exception, but it is more visible the modern and atmospheric fraction, based on some black metal traces, which transmit in a certain and majestic way that folk and dark inspiration as well. The percussion here haves a more loud and simplistic filling, with a certain echoed perspective, like it belongs to the skies and it is played by gods. Rites of the Valkyries don’t have that must instruments and sounds diversification, which we could see in the previous creations, but the consequence of that it’s not a bad one, for the opposite, with this characteristic we are presented with such a peaceful magic, that brings to us blissful and enjoyable moments of audition.
This is an album with distant music’s to the modern humanity; the ancient gods and the beauty of war are the priority. When I ear this, I imagine great and icy mountains, infinite and natural plains, and all the blood and iron spilled on them, war for sure, but a beautiful war from the middle ages.

For those who want to dream - 95%

WIndrider, December 18th, 2003

Wongraven, the majestic ambient project by Satyr, has always been a very relished, article of mine. Wongraven creates a feeling of pure mythical fantasy, through conveying feelings of pride and glory. Yet perhaps most astute, is that Wongraven evoked emotions of adventure resonating in a time of untainted beauty which only could exist before the modernization of man. To my disdain however, Wongraven never had a predecessor and to make matters even worse there were very few bands which were able to recreate its essence of pure archaic majesty. Well, finally after years and years of searching I have found an artist which satisfies all these tenets and even surpasses Wongraven in some respects.
Lord Wind is a project by Polish legend Rob Darken who, like his philosophical counterpart Varg, is loved by few and hated by many. I probably fall into the later of this category, as I share little adornment to the blatant persecution of races. Yet I do share something in common with men like Varg and Darken, and in this sense respect them. A part of my soul genuinely craves the “dark ages” which these men so artfully create. It is this aspect which I look upon Lord Wind when offering my review.
Musically Lord Wind Share little in common with Darken’s other epic, Graveland, which is pure grim Black metal. Yet one aspect the two do have in common is there similarity of despotism . Both Lord Wind and Graveland have rivers of atmosphere which dominate their audience, and in the former is the entire principal of the album. This atmosphere is stirring, captivating, and quite a sensuous experience.
While the previous statements can be made about all three Lord Wind albums, the album we are particularly looking at is Lord Wind’s third release Rites Of The Valkyries. This album is undoubtedly his most mature compositions to date, and shows Darken’s stunning ability to create extremely well defined atmospheres. This albums is full of resonating orchestration which lingers and echoes like the inherent blasphemy which it is. Tainted with a Slavonic, middle eastern essence, Lord Wind is full of male choir which resonates like musical notes, keys which are so simple yet grand, and a general cloaking effect, which bathes ones mind from the inside out.
This album is absolutely evil, yet not satanic evil. It’s the music of men who don’t cling to any moral continuum to begin with. This is the music of men who live by the sword and will slay, rape, and pillage if that’s what their path entails. These values show a revolution in themselves because they abolish the standards set by contemporary society. Darken justifies these actions because he takes us out of this episteme, where it ok to act in such a way. In this realm humans are still animals, basked in nature, with the only guide being that of majesty, and the unknown. When listening to this music, anything is possible because science, morals, and all other facets of contemporary life are contrived.
My fellow heathens who yearn for a time when life was simple, join with Lord Wind. This music is not a political attack against any personal human, but an attack against all those which took away our fantasy; essentially the proponents of monotheistic, western religions. For if we were never to have been told that thing are they way they are, than our pagan dreams, which evocated true emotions, not these artificial material ones, would still dominate.
!What Darken has offered us here is a true gift, take advantage of it and free your soul!