First Spell

Norway’s answer to the cheese call, aside from the infamous Dimmu Borgir, came from one Gehenna. 1994’s ‘First Spell’ was an EP that showed much promise. Pitting it against a full-length may not be entirely fair but it is nearly half an hour length and does a good job of representing their sound at this time. The music is classically gothic in aesthetics. Church organs, ghoulish and understated distorted vocals, haunting minor keys, all add up to a big barrel of clichés. Tempo wise it rarely gets much beyond 150 bpm I would say, with simple 4/4 rock rhythms underpinning layered keyboards, and basic minor chord progressions.

The production is better than most Norwegian releases at this time. The guitar tone is full bodied with much weight behind it, which mitigates the need for overly complex riffs. Drums are relegated to simple time keepers with little to no creativity required. But this is not a detriment to the music. Far from it. The whole kit is perfectly audible, and they play their role as pace-keeper perfectly. Anything more would be a distraction.

Gehenna construct their music by first introducing a simple riff played in a minor key, overlaid with church organs or strings, and continue on in the same mood for a few passages. Then half way through the piece there will be a dramatic climax that was never built to. This usually involves a dramatic key change, a tempo shift, or both. This is often accented with basic tritone guitar leads. Once this has played its course the original theme or themes will be returned to, with the hope that the listener will view the opening riff when played post-climax in a new light. This method really shines when the same tempo is maintained but the key and mood shift dramatically, it frees up the music to explore its full dynamic range while maintaining the same level of intensity.

It’s a classic compositional technique. But I fear there are just not enough basic components to the music on ‘First Spell’ to make it reach its true potential. The music is just too basic and cliché ridden to really teach the listener anything they didn’t already know. However, it is an intriguing approach to black metal for anyone looking for something a bit different within the style. But it does not lend itself to repeated listens, and has not stood the test of time well.

Gehenna showed much potential on ‘First Spell’, and they should be commended for doing something a little different with the black metal mould, at a time when the creative space was filling up quickly with much better known and more infamous artists. But there is simply not enough going on in this music to encourage a listener to come back for more.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

''First Spell'' is a great and unique interpretation of symphonic black metal, and remains among my favourite symphonic metal releases. Just as many other black metal bands, Gehenna seems to take inspiration from Lord of the Rings. The melodies are something of their own, and I have yet to encounter any releases sounding too similar to this.

Unlike many other black metal bands, Gehenna doesn't seem to aspire to create an evil atmosphere. Gehenna has more of a haunting sound, and they achieve this by whispering rather than screaming at times, as well as using a church organ (resemblance). When listening to ''First Spell'', it really reminds me of the Nazgûl, riding their horses through cold and dark forests. I think the opening track somewhat describes the atmosphere, ''The Shivering Voice of the Ghost''.

What I find quite interesting about this EP is the fact that the synth isn't just in the background, it's quite predominant. For instance, there's a synth solo in the opening track. The guitars also play an important role, and the riffs are great. They consist of tremolo picking mostly, and they are well complimented by the synth. The tempo stays fairly constant, and it is a medium fast tempo. The bass is also quite good, mainly due to the fact that it's relatively loud in the mix, and the tone sounds really fat, in lack of a better term, which adds depth to the release.

Overall, I'd say ''First Spell'' is a great EP, and I'd recommend it to those new to black metal, however I think that all black metal fans could enjoy this release.

1994 was a great year for black metal. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Hvis Lysett Tar Oss, Pure Holocaust and Svartalvheim are only a few of the genre's classics released that year, and for somewhat reason, First Spell is excluded from the list. Why?

This album has atmosphere, and a hell of it. The excessive keyboards that accompany the album are actually in place (at most of the album) and add to its creeping and chilling nature. The melancholic ice-cold riffs and powerful bass lines are performed with a high level of skill, and the vocals feature not only screaming, but hissing, whispering and even growling at times. From the very beginning of this album, the church organ wails to warn you of the upcoming terror- dark, melancholic, melodic, but still in-your-face-kvlt madness resembling a fusion between The Damned and Immortal.

The songs themselves are diverse. Some featuring an epic and upbeat feeling at times, with suddenly contrasting into a morbid and sombre atmosphere- imagine a Type O Negative album covered by Emperor. The enhanced bass and keyboards, with melancholic acoustic parts, which are a fairly uncommon thing among black metal albums of this time, are shown here in their full pride and glory- but are a little over emphasized and make the guitar sound buried deeply under the wall of sound this album makes. The lyrics are something between In the Nightside Eclipse and Burzum. Sometimes juvenile and pseudo-philosophical, and sometimes sophisticated and deep. This doesn't interrupt the album's atmosphere and feeling- and is only a minor part of it.

So that's it. You've already reached the end of your forest journey, with no blast beats and overlong intros, but with a great foggy atmosphere and corpse paint on your face. Recommended.

Gehenna´s first publication was one of those outputs that defined the seal of approval "Norwegian black metal". This was remarkable, because the band did not focus on the usual stylistic elements. Gehenna had not the intention to set up a new speed record. Maximum heaviness was also not the goal. The group rather emphasized the aesthetic aspects of the Nordic metal revolution. The black and white artwork expressed the mood of the songs in a highly successful manner (please note that it did not show an icecold winter landscape). While offering a ghostly atmosphere of loneliness, the monotonous music seized you inevitably. This happened because the said monotony seemed not to be an expression of creative helplessness but a carefully used stylistic device. Furthermore, the minimalistic and easily understandable melodies knew how to please, albeit they were mostly formed by the keyboards. What is more, Sarcana, who played this instrument, was even allowed to perform solos. Is this still (black) metal? Well, if I am not mistaken, this genre was invented to break conventions.

The dismal aura was only interrupted by the fairly harsh third piece "Angelwings and Ravenclaws" which was more lively than the other songs. Despite its more powerful composition, it appeared as a sunbeam that suddenly broke through the dense clouds. But it was not able to warm the earth sustainably. The remaining pieces followed the joyless pattern of the first two songs.

The invoking voice matched with the dark ambience that was created by the instrumental section. Life seemed to be a long and silent river. The reposefully flowing songs did not offer tempo changes and the permanent repetition of the melodies led to a special sort of catchiness. Everything was kept comprehensible and complexity was definitely not the name of the game. The drums, for example, had only one task, namely to keep time. I am fairly sure that this was really their preferred compositional approach. But maybe they also just made a virtue out of necessity due to their not yet fully established technical skills. In any case, the result spoke for itself. As you know, simplicity is not as easy as it seems. Therefore, it is all the more noteworthy that all songs were able to convince. In terms of quality, the differences between the tracks were minimal. Without being hypnotizing, the tunes had a strong effect on me.

The production walked the thin line between harshness and atmosphere. Fortunately, everything went well. The keyboards did not sound too sweetish, the guitars did not kill the mood. Everything was more or less well balanced so that the mix caused no reasons for concern. This applied especially to the fact that "First Spell" was the debut of these somewhat eccentric trolls. From our present point of view, maybe we find it difficult to describe this relatively soft music as black metal, but it´s a nice document of the Norwegian spirit at the time of its release.

“First Spell” is considered to be a debut full length album of Norwegian Gehenna, but I must say that calling it a full length is a bit exaggerated, as the whole material is only 26 minutes long (short). Obviously some other bands also released albums with such a short content – like Deicide for instance – but still it feels a bit awkward to debut with such a short material, especially as some songs already have appeared on the demo or EP. Anyway, I remember that when I got this album back in 1996 or 1997 I really liked it, because of the unique atmosphere and some nice, kind of catchy, memorable songs, which differed so much from the typical primitive and raw black metal. But when I listen to “First Spell” nowadays I feel like my impression on this album has changed through the years, for worse, as nowadays this album sounds just too archaic and too infantile. I feel like it didn’t grow old well… at least not as good as some other stuff Gehenna or some other Norwegian bands have recorded back then.

The main problem with this album is that it just feels to be too soft and too delicate for the early Norwegian black metal release. Not evil enough. Obviously the keyboards play a significant role in the music of Gehenna, as the band tries to evoke a dark, ghoulish, sort of inhuman, macabre atmosphere… and sure, they do it well, but it is just too pleasant, in my opinion. There were other Norwegian bands, which played the more atmospheric black metal in much better way, just to mention the early incarnations of Ulver, Satyricon, Troll and Dimmu Borgir. When comparing Gehenna’s “First Spell” to them the difference is quite huge. Obviously I cannot deny the fact that Gehenna has developed their own sound and style already on this debut album – or even earlier, on the “Black Seared Heart” demo – and for that they must be praised. But the songs, which “First Spell” contains, are just not so good and I am afraid that the passing time wasn’t too kind for this album. Now it almost sounds infantile, some arrangements and melodic passages are hilarious, in my opinion, like that keyboard solo in “The Shivering Voice of the Ghost”, which is such a happy tune that I am scared to call it black metal. And no, I don’t think that it is very bad, when the keyboards are leading the music, while the guitars are almost behind them, if it was only helping to create the dark and evil atmosphere… Hmm, maybe if the production of “First Spell” was rawer and so clean and polished, then the band would achieve this effect? I don’t know.

Of all songs from “First Spell” I think that “The Shivering Voice of the Ghost” is the most memorable and best; I like that chorus part in this track and also the whole atmosphere in it is just as the title says: ghoulish and macabre (except the happy keyboard “solo” part). I also like that organ theme, which opens this song and Dolgar’s harsh, raspy vocals. Yeah, this is really good track. “Unearthly Loose Palace” is not too bad also, but it is so slow, almost kind of melancholic that after a while it starts to annoy the hell in me. “Angelwings and Ravenclaws” is probably the catchiest of all the songs; it is also the only one, which is so short (less than three minutes, while rest of the songs is about six minutes long each). It is slightly faster, in the sense that it won’t put you to sleep as much as “Unearthly…” just did, but I am surprised by what the keyboards sometimes play here. I think that Gehenna really done it all wrong on this album, when we’re talking about this instrument and its arrangements. Finally “Morningstar” sounds quite close to what Dimmu Borgir was doing at that same time on “For All Tid”, and for sure it is my second favourite song from “The First Spell”. It is more lively, has some cool riffs and finally the keyboards don’t play such an important, leading role in the music, giving the guitars more space.

So, as you can see “First Spell” is not my favourite Norwegian black metal release. It is not a bad album, for sure it is good to have it in the collection and giving it a spin once in decade. Gehenna captured here a unique atmosphere, but too many things have been done wrong in my opinion, speaking of the arrangements and the keyboards. Personally I liked this album 15 years ago more than nowadays. And “Seen Through the Veils of Darkness” is far, far more superior to this.
Standout track: “The Shivering Voice of the Ghost”, “Morningstar”
Final rate: 69/100

I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice the steep incline in quality between the 1993 EP Ancestor to the Darkly Sky and the following First Spell. The band themselves chose this title because they likely wanted the audience to remember this as their true initiation, and rightly so. Not only is the production vastly improved over the prior releases, but the songwriting here is subtly imaginative, and better structured all around. They're still moving at a rather sluggish gait throughout the five tracks of this, but there's much more happening and the integration of the symphonic keyboards is far superior, even if they, and the vocals are at times a bit loud, drowning some of the guitars.

First Spell is a bit warmer and more glorious sounding than other Norwegian black metal releases of its er like De Mysteriis dom Sathanas or Pure Holocaust, and this is due largely to the majestic note progressions of the guitars. Acoustic guitars and ringing organs are threaded throughout "The Shivering Voice of the Ghost", but despite the creepy 'haunted house' keys after 2:00 in the bridge, or the pitch-shifted gutturals near the close, Gehenna falls short of being anything near a menace. The same could be said for the festive, subtle and mildly slower "Unearthly Loose Palace", which is unfortunately not an ode to an extraterrestrial brothel, but is a damn absorbing song which I'd number my favorite on the disc. "Angelwings and Ravenclaws" is also re-recorded here with far more polish than its prior incarnation, and I love the stringy, ringing keys dowsed over the first 35 seconds, and in fact all of the simple orchestral elements, though they do admittedly trample the guitars into a support role (it's okay, they weren't doing much anyway).

Another tight track is the closer, "Morning Star", cantering along at a slightly more pressing pace with nice glazes of guitar melody ranged against the synth orchestra. I loved the brooding tones of the intro, over which Dolgar starts garbling gravel, and the rather 'dobby horse' black metal vibe of the writing, a descriptor I might also apply to "Unearthly Loose Palace". Aside from the volumes, which seem mildly skewed towards the key melodies and vocals, the production here is pro enough for its age, with solid Dirge Rep drumming and fuzzy rhythm guitars. First Spell is perhaps not the best output for Gehenna overall, but I feel like this would secure them a spot on that second tier roster of Norwegian bands who managed some success through the osmosis of novelty in the mid-90s. First Spell is slow and beautiful, traits that are not always appreciated by a chunk of the black metal fanbase, but it's an authentic and enduring, proper introduction to a band about to embark on their most important journeys.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Gehenna's 'First Spell' is the band's initial major offering and the pinnacle of their early unique sound. 'First Spell' is a fusion of simple, almost passive, melodic black metal, melded with a strong gothic overtone.

Two basic, yet very important elements push 'First Spell' out of the crowd and into its own personal niche. The raspy, choked near-whispers that comprise the vocal work lurch out of the speakers like a ghostly fog to give a doomy, death-like feel to the whole release. The keyboard work here is crucial as well, as it is the loudest, most musically driving element of the mix both leading and anchoring tracks as they form, expand and die away. Without such a strong relationship between the vocals and keyboards, and their respective sounds and roles individually, this disc would be a let-down.

The guitar work is very simple and does not represent a strong presence in the mix and is lacking in drive and power, both in form and feel, which is one of the only real weaknesses of 'First Spell'. There are minor leads and harmonies scattered about 'First Spell' and the clean, somewhat brittle, arpeggios in "Unearthly Loose Palace" are a nice accent, but otherwise the fretwork sticks to basic formulated power chords running through simple song structures, either backing or being backed by the essential keyboards. Dirge Rep's percussion work feels passive and weak as well. Most of the time, the drums are very straightforward double-bass rhythms with little to no variety aside from the occasional stint into double-time. The keyboards are the most important musical object in this release, giving 'First Spell' its emotional substance and wide, cavernous, ghostly atmosphere. The keyboards add the necessary element of variety, sometimes serving as the lead (such as the vibrant church organ in the album opener "Shivering Voice of the Ghost", with it's center-stage performance coming just after two minutes into the track) and other times serving as a well-executed backdrop to an already formed theme or idea, such as the simple, but very effective chords in 'The Conquering of Hirsir". The album's tracks all play through at a slow to moderate pace, so if you're expecting some of the intensity and speed of more modern Gehenna releases...this isn't it.

The production of 'First Spell' lacks a significant low-end presence, but wraps itself tightly in a blanket of warm, analog mids and highs, with an ambient, spacey atmosphere which works to give the album it's veiled, ghost-like emotion. As previously stated, drums and guitars could have been a bit louder to enforce their sound and roles, but because of that the vocals and keyboards (again, the best part of 'First Spell') take the forefront, it's a near-even tradeoff. As for Bass? No. You'd really probably have to EQ your stereo system to even begin to goad it out of the mix.

The lyrics are pretty simple, and the song titles are effective at summarizing the lyrical content within. There is nothing extravagant, nor anything standoffish in terms of written prowess, with most songs dealing with a worldly sense of dread and that therein. The best lyrics on the album come from the opener, "Shivering Voice of the Ghost", in which a better title could not have been picked with it's combination of lyrics, death-like rasps for vocals, and crisp, haunting keyboard work.

'First Spell' is ultimately going to appeal to fans of slower, more laid-back melodic black metal and fans of dirge-like goth metal. Maybe even a few 'part-time' Doom metal fans would appreciate this. Fans of newer, modern Gehenna actually may not be so interested, as this is Gehenna's unique release before this particular sound began to dwindle away with future albums, opting for a more modernized combination of moderate paced black and death metal. This is definitely worth a listen from any of the above groups, and for being nearly a decade and a half old, 'First Spell' is still pretty easy to find at a reasonable price. The only drawback is that the album is less than half an hour in length, spread across only five songs.

Outside of 'First Spell's weak spots in terms of some frail production values and short running time, this disc is one of the only albums I've come to appreciate with this type of 'doom and gloom' style of metal. If all of the above fits into your tastes, then invest your time and money into it.