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Overall, I believe that this is the most artistically relevant record that features Ildjarn primarily as a solo artist. It is painfully raw in its execution, frighteningly direct in its communication, but wait, stop right there.. Isn't that kindof important? It COMMUNICATES!! That's something that the vast majority of artists seem to have forgetten about. On the other hand though, I don't think it is particularly consistent, failing to hold a single atmosphere the whole way through. I would rather he had left the "Norse" EP to be released later with other Ildjarn - Nidhogg material and started with the material from the "Ildjarn" demo. This would have allowed this album a much more consistent sound and made it much easier to stomach time wise. Anyway though, enough of the bad, I am giving this record a 95 afterall...

Although this music is seemingly haphazard and randomly assembled, it is definetely meant to be heard in it's entirety. This material is too abstract to be merely heard song by song (except maybe a couple standout tracks such as "Stov og Aske," or "Minnesjord 1"). Overall this music demands some intelligence because it requires the listener to assemble the shattered fragments of an outsider's view of an idea presented as songs over repeated listenings. As stated above, the abrupt changes in production, and slight changes in technique do break up the album, but within these blocks, it is quite easy to lose onesself in the exact, trebly, midpaced pulse of the drums and just let the mostly ludicrously simple punkish "melodies" enter your brain much like you would minimalist ambient music. One of my favorite things about this album and band in general though is that at least a good quarter of the riffs (or phrases, or movements, whatever is most appropriate) are actually quite compositionally advanced (while still remaining very simple, technique wise), and these anchor the rest of the music, creating an absorbing and comprehensive musical medium.

Oh yeah the production, everybody talks about the production when it comes to Ildjarn... With the exception of the "Norse" EP which is quite a bit different, the production here is thin, but not to the extent of the self titled album, and abraded, but not to the extent of Forest Poetry or Strength and Anger. Overall it's a pretty good compromise, at least within the paradigm that is Ildjarn. If you're new to this kind of stuff though, don't even ask...

This album is certainly artistically ambitions enough to get a score of 100 from me, but it's just inconsistent enough to drop the score by 5 points. In addition to the above mentioned compilation difficulties, this release does trail off a bit towards the last few songs. Still very highly recommended to anyone who wishes to explore the artistic limits of the black metal genre.

The first thing I heard of Ildjarn was the 'Hardangervidda' tape. I always like a majestic ambient landscape. Yet when I got this piece, there was no ambient to be found. This is cold and raw black metal. No more, no less. It's a bit more simplistic than Darkthrone, but it still bangs the balls out of your shorts.
The albums contains 3 demo's of Ildjarn. Well, they sure don't sound like demo's. De quality is actually quite good. No vacuum-cleaners here. It's amazing how one person can make such hateful black metal and such atmospheric, almost romantic ambient at the same time. Only a few people, for example Satyr and Fenriz, were able to pull that off.
If you only heard the later works of Ildjarn, it's no guarantee you'll like this, but if you're into simple up-tempo groundbreaking black, this is a piece you should get. I hope Ildjarn will eventually return to this kind of music, because it owns.