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Ásmegin - Arv

Ásmegin - Arv - 55%

ThrashManiacAYD, August 28th, 2009

Another day, another Scandinavian folk influenced black metal band working for their place in Valhalla. Asmegin, of Jevnaker, Norway, have already been in existence for 10 years but are here with just album no. 2, "Arv", bringing forth a style picking up bits of Falkenbach, Tyr, Thyrfing and Primordial on the way to producing what is a difficult album to really get into.

"Arv" (translated as 'heritage') is loosely based on Scandinavian folk sounds explored so thoroughly by countless others the last few years with the addition of a standard rock beats, some polka feeling at times as well as, curiously, a jazzy feel to closing track "En Myrmylne". If it feels like your brain is struggling to accept the integration of so many disparate styles, fear not as this is the over-riding criticism of "Arv". Asmegin have tampered with the boundaries of folk-influenced extreme metal to produce an album that is arguably not 'extreme', this being no problem for me, but one lacking in flow and user-friendliness, a commodity required in music however un-user-friendly the artist would like to be. Faroese pagan-purveyors Tyr stand as testament to this, both through the similarity of tracks like "Fandens Mælkebøtte" with their staccato tempos used to create a more tranquil and epic landscape than say, Moonsorrow, and the mid-paced nature of proceedings. Never being one to give up easily however on albums that dare to be different I have given "Arv" the benefit of repeated listens and levels of enjoyment have increased over time but the obtrusive nature of songs like "Gengangeren" is paramount to the restricted pleasure I am getting from this album.

It could be said that each song represents a different influence or similarity, making my job as a reviewer hard to pick an exact dimension within which to place Asmegin. "Yndifall" begins and concludes with a bass-led riff so Primordial I, of course, love it; "Generalen Og Troldharen" proclaims a rough around the edges Isengard feel; while the clean female vocals, which are used heavily in "Prunkende, Stolt I Jokumsol" and "Hiertebrand" exist as an antithesis to the dominating gruff male grunts, scream out Christina Scabbia, aka Lacuna Coil. Streamlining would be the name of the game here as segments of "Arv" possess a serene idyllic feel, somewhat akin to the album's cover, that with refinement could see greater success for Asmegin with "Arv". Tentatively giving this album a middle level mark however, it is one that could potentially increase over time as "Arv" is a difficult listen but with patience does offer the listener treats in it's carefully structured passages of melancholic pagan prose.

Originally written for Rockfreaks.net

Underrated as fuck - 80%

Svarthavid, June 3rd, 2009

Wow, it’s been a long time since Ásmegin’s previous album, Hin Vordende Sod & Sø, but finally, they got their shit together and recorded a brand new album. I have seen many negative reviews for this, which I find pretty stupid. Just because this is completely different from Hin Vordende Sod & Sø doesn’t mean that this is a bad album. The production, as a previous reviewer also have mentioned, is very similar to Arcturus’ Sideshow symphonies.

Let me explain the differences. The music in general is much slower. Gone are the insane blast beats from the debut, gone are Sareeta’s violins and female clean vocals, and gone are Lars Nedland, master of all that is epic. At least when it comes to clean vocals. But don’t worry too much, we still have good vocals, at least the harsh and female ones. Erik Rasmussen have sure improved since the debut, although some say it was Narenschiff (Illnath) who did vocals on the first album. Either way, the growled vocals here sounds more trained than before, with midranged black metal screams and deep, guttural death metal growls. The clean male vocals however, sounds a bit hilarious. They try to be as epic as possible, but as you probably guessed, it doesn’t work at all. The female vocals I’ll comment on later, since they are a bit different from song to song. Gone are also the lyrics in Old Norwegian and Norse, so even I, a Norwegian myself, can understand them without reading the lyrics.

The songs here are quite varied. Some of them are really good and some of them I rarely listen to. I have seen people here saying that there are no catchy riffs on this, which I strongly disagree with. Some of these riffs get stuck in your head for days.
Track 1, Fandens Mælkebøtte, is the highlight of the album in my opinion. It begins with a typical folk riff, and with an excellent female vocal part. The chorus is sung with harsh vocals, and is the catchiest moment of the entire album. It then goes into a section where the song alternates between growled and female vocals, then back to the chorus again, before it ends completely. Is it just me, or does the female vocalist sounds a bit drunk? Drunk or not, she sounds beautiful anyway. Track 2, Gjertbrand is also worth mentioning. It’s a quite good track. The only thing which is a bit annoying at times is that they have multilayered Erik’s growls. I usually have nothing against that, but here it sounded annoying. Track 3, Generalen og trollharen is a very catchy one. It’s cool, although the clean vocals are quite lame. Sometimes they sound like a Norwegian actor named Lasse Kolstad, and in the middle of the song, when he finds out that he can’t hit the highest notes by singing normally, he shouts it out in a somewhat thrashy way. Oh well, I really love the accordion in this song though. Another track worth mentioning is track 7, Prunkende, stolt I Jokumsol. It’s an acoustic ballad with female vocals only. It’s a very relaxing track, perfect song to listen to if you wanna go to sleep or something. The female vocals also have that calm, relaxing touch to it which I totally love.

Overall, get this if you are a folk metaler like me, but if you are expecting another Hin Vordende Sod & Sø, this is not the album for you. However, if you are open minded, I recommend this one.

Highlights: Fandens Mælkebøtte, Gjertbrand, Generalen og Trollharen, Prunkende, stolt i Jokumsol.

Don't compare Arv to any other album. - 80%

fjällvinter, May 8th, 2009

On 2003, Ásmegin released a really amazing album, called Hin Vordende Sod & Sø, which was something really fresh and revived in a way the hopes for the viking metal genre. The metal community had high hopes for this band on a future release. 5 years later, they came back with Arv, a controversial album mainly because it’s totally different from their acclaimed debut. To be honest, this still is amazing and FAR better than most of folk metal around.

On an interview, Marius said this album was made in a hurry (mixed on 12 hours!!!).
The epic vocals of Lazare (Borknagar, Solefald) are gone, the same with the chaotic intertwining of growls, grim, viking clean and female vocals. The brutality and aggression also are gone…but they managed to create something very unique from any released before – even from their own debut.

The production is not really great (maybe compared to Arcturus’s Sideshow Symphonies), but still everything can be understood. This time the singer does a very minimalistic work on the drums, and most of songs are low/mid paced. The guitars are folkish with some death metal elements from time to time. Bass is very interesting, adding a good melodic sense to the music. The vocals are excellent, the growl/harsh ones are great as always, while the clean male ones are decent enough (not as epic as Lazare’s ones, but they do the job). The female vocals are different, in a softer version. Sometimes they sound very tired or ‘crestfallen’, but still being beautiful.

The songwriting is more progressive and atmospheric (a depressive one, by the way) and it requires more listens to get it, not like the in-your-face approach of the debut… I mean, the first time I heard Arv I didn’t like it at all (just the first 2 songs were a little decent IMO) but I gave it a chance… now I enjoy it a lot.

The album starts with Fandens Mælkebøtte, a mid paced song, with great vocal harmonies. The verse is leaded by female vocals (with a little jazzy tone), the chorus with grim vocals, and then comes female-growl–female–grim vocals, keeping the same pace and simplicity. The music is very depressive to be something viking – even the accordion sounds sad -. The only thing I don’t like too much are the drums, which are too damn simple but everything else works fine.

The second track is my personal favourite from the album, Hjertbrand. A 6/8 (mainly) tune, with grim and growling at the same time, which songs awesome. The female vocals have a lot of room to shine, doing a lot of vocal harmonies – all of them very beautiful and better IMO than Hin Vordende -. At 1:45 enters one of the best sections of the album, progressive death metal drums/guitars with amazing growling, oddly complemented with a very relaxed and melancholic violin. Near the end we found one of the few moments where growling, grim and clean vocals ‘enter on dialogue’, the female ones are the lead where the grim suddenly enters screaming, ending with different vocals. Awesome song.

Generalen og Troldharen has more male clean vocals on it and a very progressive structure, constantly changing the tempo and ryhthms, sometimes featuring a basic percussion, then double bass drums and massive vocals, great basslines. Overall a good song, a truly weird one but it has quality.

The title track starts alas Hin Vordende, with violin harmonies, entering onto something totally different, a progressive 70’s rock influenced riffage with viking vocals. The violins have more room on this song as the male vocal harmonies too on the first half of the song. The second half features an up-beat folk riff with growling/grim vocals, ending the song with an Otyg-like female vocal solo (very similar to the Gygralock’s end on Sagovindars Boning, just shorter). Excellent song.

When I reach Yndifall, I start to feel a little tired, since the song is somehow similar to the past 4, with large instrumental sections, which sadly are somehow disappointing for the minimalistic sense of them. I feel it’s the weaker song on Arv. Gengangeren starts with a piano intro and an almost dancing folk rhythm, with growling, giving some freshness to the experience. Also we can found some catchy clean vocals, some riffs are repeated. A decent song but not great as the first 4.

Prunkende, Stolt i Jokumsol is a surprise. It’s like a jazzy bass driven atmospheric song, only female vocals here. The bassist shines the most here and the girl does a great job, although this doesn’t fits so much with the other songs.

The album ends in a very chaotic way with En Myrmylne (the longest song of Arv), where they give all what they have. All kind of vocals, massive violin harmonies intertwined with female voices, progressive and ever changing rhythms, until a looong slow paced beat, when the song returns to his chaotic path to finally end.

This album shows great potential, but is also obvious that is an unfinished product. Marius said they are still working on ‘the real’ sequel to Hin Vordende, called “Tusind tabte Sjæles Kakofoni" (which is not the working title of Arv as this page says) so I still have a good expectative from this guys. Still, this is highly recommended, but don’t try to compare it with Hin Vordende, this is something totally different, yet interesting and innovative.

This hurts... - 65%

skinticket, February 7th, 2009

We all know that "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø" was, and always will be, an important piece of art within this genre. A scene that is practicly drowning in "that's kinda cool, let's play that" bands that seem to all have the same goal; sound excactly alike with a total lack of soul and genuine interest in creating anything unique or interesting. Ásmegin was a long awaited fresh breath, and has definitely deserved all the praise they've gotten for their previous releases.

However, with such a great effort on their debut album, it would be hard to top it. But five years in the making, I'd expect something a little better then this. It's still different and interesting, but as mentioned in other reviews, the mid-paced unmemorable riffs going all through the album, makes it a bit tame. And the suffocated guitarsound doesn't make it any better.

What made "Hin..." such a wonderous album, was a more noticable use of fiddles, more exciting and enticing melodies, and much more complex drumwork. There's still a lot on this album to sink your teeth into, but in their attempt to keep an independent and unique style, they de-evolved rather then evolved.

So, there are both negative and positive sides to this album, the negative being:
- Very unexceptional drums. Might be more inventional than their peers, but certainly a step down compared the debut.
- Amon Amarthish death growls gives it the ol' generic "swedish viking death metal" sound.
- Guitars sound like they're choking, which again gives a generic sound rather than the crunchier guitars of "Hin..."

And the positive things:
- This is still Ásmegin, and compared to what the genre has to offer, it's a nice piece of music.
- The multi-layered male choruses are still present and give the songs a nice touch.
- Beautiful female vocals also picks it up, especially on the enchanting intermission that is "Prunkende, Stolt i Jokumsol".

So, in conclusion, this is definitely not a worthy follow-up to "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø", but still an interesting folk metal album worth picking up.

Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen - 40%

anathematized_one, December 27th, 2008

I want to preface this review by stating that I didn't give this such a low rating because it's stylistically different than "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø." With that said, I'll now show you how it differs from "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø" and why this album sucks.

Let's start with what you should expect. Forget what you heard on "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø." The production quality has taken a significant downgrade. They also significantly changed their guitar tone and style of playing. Lars Nedland doesn't grace this album with his beautiful voice. Don't worry, there are still some clean vocals, and there are the same guttural vocals as on the previous album. The drum work is a little more simplified, as well as the guitar work, and the folk instruments don't play a huge role in this release, nor do the keys.

Now, let's get to why this album is almost utter garbage. The new guitar tone I mentioned? Yeah well it sounds extremely muffled and choked, really rough and low-end heavy, a little too much so for this style of music. The lower production quality doesn't help this cause either. All of the songs plod on at the same slow tempo - there is hardly any variation in the music throughout the whole album. Now there is nothing wrong with slower tempos, but slower tempos just don't work well with folk metal, in a general sense. The droll tempo and lack of spontaneity only enhance the fact that this album is completely unmemorable. I have listened to it three times now, and I can't remember a single bit of it. In fact, when I was first listening to it, I had to try really hard to stay focused and pay attention to it instead of spacing out.

Now I'm not just ripping this album because I've been listening to and loving "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø" for so many years to be disappointed by this garbage just because it doesn't sound like "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø." This album really did suck. I don't care that they didn't keep the sound on "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø," I mean I loved Dissection forever and then they released "Reinkaos", totally different sound, but it was actually good and I loved it. This isn't the case here. I mean even the cover art is as bland and lifeless as the music. The only reason it got a 40 was because it did remain a unique album among vast amounts of other folk metal albums that all sound alike; however, I'd rather listen to them than this.

Worth the wait, indeed. - 95%

Oakenson, December 19th, 2008

Considering that it has been some five years since Ásmegin's debut album, Hin Vordende Sod & Sø, was released, it is only natural to expect some variations in the band's sound; Arv, in a nutshell, is NOT a sequel to Hin Vordende Sod & Sø but, rather, a whole new chapter in Ásmegin's legacy all together. Ásmegin's debut album was chockfull of delicious, catchy folk melodies, a strong sense of Nordic abrasiveness and, ultimately, possessed an atmosphere and feel all its own, yet to be duplicated or replicated elsewhere. It is an understandable appraisal to feel that Arv, in one way or another, is a kind of let down - it is, afterall, much different than Hin Vordende Sod & Sø and has, in some senses, abandoned some of the characteristics that made the band's debut album so successful and memorable in the first place, including the frantic pacings, the extremely harsh vocal stylings (as well as diverse vocal styles) and, to be frank, a certain amount of catchiness as well; so, in the end, where does all of this point to? Greatness, if you're open to it.

Arv is, in my opinion, an all around better album than the first; I am, admittedly, almost surprised that I feel this way since I am an avid fan of bands like Running Wild and Grave Digger who have, essentially, not changed their formula at all and, being the way that I am, I really don't mind the whole "don't fix it if it's not broken" mindset, however, once in a while there are bands that come along that are, simply, meant to grow and progress; Ásmegin, like Ulver or Borknagar, are one of these groups. For starters, Arv, like the debut, is a wholly unique recording that, again, has no replica or duplicate - I can't compare it to anything else out there and, yes, that includes the band's own debut album. So, what's different? - well, to outline this as simply as possible, I shall provide a small list of what to expect (or not to expect) on Arv: it's substantially slower than the first album; it is far more progressive in all aspects; it is not nearly as catchy so, yes, some of those super-addictive and fun fiddle melodies are gone (although the fiddle certainly is not); it's much bassier, as opposed to the fairly trebly debut; and, umm, it's ultimately just a completely different beast. The songwriting shows a strong sense of maturity, progression and diversity that, all around, makes it a much stronger recording than the debut album to my ears. It is difficult to further justify my claim as to why I feel Arv is better than Hin Vordende Sod & Sø because, at the end of the day, it comes down to personal tastes, as does everything; if you want an album sounding like the debut, you WILL be disappointed but, if like myself, you were expecting something different just due to the natural time-span between the two releases, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised and awed.

To go through songs individually is a monotonous process, however, I will highlight a few of them that I find particularly exceptional (although, make no mistake, the whole album is unbelievably solid). Yndifall, structurally, is quite a unique track that, similarly to the third song on Ulver's debut album Bergtatt, has some genuinely frightening moments that conjure up profound imagery of foreboding nature ... it really is lovely. Generalen Og Troldharen is perhaps the most, at least in a melodic sense, quirky song on the album, making fantastic use of the accordion as well as other traditional folk instruments; the sense of melody throughout the song is truly phenomenal, conjuring up odd trollish imagery that is bound to make the listener think of John Bauer more than once. The short interlude-esque track on the album, Prunkende, Stolt I Jokumsol, is all together a different sort of thing for the band, wandering into purely progressive territory, very much reminding me of Lumsk's mellow moments (although, in retrospect, I guess all of their moments are mellow, at least in a metallic sense). All in all, the whole album is brilliant compositionally, atmospherically and melodically and is very much meant to be listened to as a full album - this isn't a song-skipper.

Any complaints? - not really. The album IS quite short, clocking in at around 43 minutes and, considering that is has in fact been five years in the making, I would have been happy to hear more as I am sure, when considering the caliber of the musicians, there was/is indeed more (at least in their heads) although, outside of this small and futile complaint, I find the album to be seamless; get it, it's Ásmegin and it's fucking good.

That's Real Folk, Folks - 75%

Fulvio_Ermete, December 18th, 2008

Asmegin are a band that can work hard. They were born in 1999 with a demo, "Naar Rimkalkene Heves", that was quite little promising and boring: after four years it comes the debut, "Hin Vordende Sod & Sø", and it's quite a huge leap forward, even if at times too close to Korpiklaani in the structures and to the less experimental Solefald in the vocal hooks (as guest it featured Lars Nedland, indeed).

After further five years, here it comes the long awaited "Arv", and it's a further progress for the Norwegian band. We must remark the style of the band sensibly approached to folk putting the metal components partially apart, but without neglecting it actually.

We always find growling and screaming vocals, even if at present they seem a bit out of context in songs with some calmer and more scenographic songs, where the main strong point is represented by the emphatic choirs and by a female voice which, in the hardest moments ("Hiertebrand") put their folk to the less dull gothic metal (like Leaves’s Eyes, for example).

Even if the rhythms have become more plain and less various, that does not mean the tracks are less monotonous: the moods – now epic ("Yndifall"), now sad, now thoughtless ("Generalen Og Troldharen" is almost party-like) – change with the change of the tracks, and are perfectly made by both a very rich use of traditional instruments – flutes, violins, keys – and a huge vocal variety.

It’s hard to meet such a rich band of expressive means and such a clever group in writing the arrangements, quite unique for balance e and thickness, and it’s no surprise five years have passed since their previous effort.

Why...?! - 55%

Aetheraeon, December 2nd, 2008

Norwegian folk metal band Ásmegin are finally coming out with a new album. One thing is for sure and that is that these guys know how to keep their fans waiting in anticipation. It is now 5 years ago that Ásmegin released their debut album 'Hin Vordende Sod & Sø' and it is finally time to hear some new tunes by this band. A lot of things happened during those 5 years and at some point I had given up the hope of ever hearing this new Ásmegin album at all. The updates to their website stopped and, their message board died, and all communication with the outside world ended. But as suddenly as Ásmegin popped up with their debut album, here they are again with a follow up to 'Hin Vordende...'. The big question that still remains is whether the wait paid off.

To answer that question right away and to be quite frank about it, no, the wait did not really pay off. Even though I prefer looking at each album a band releases as an individual instance, without comparing it too much to their previous work, this was not at all possible with Ásmegin's new album 'Arv'. 'Hin Vordende...' was one of the greatest folk metal albums released around that time and since it was a debut album, it was even more surprising. Sadly enough, 'Arv' does not reach the level of quality that Ásmegin was album to achieve on 'Hin Vordende...'. What made 'Hin Vordende...' great was that the album was filled with surprises and beautiful yet unexpected combinations. Tempo changes, variations in the dynamics of songs and a lovely mix of growled and clean vocals (both male and female) made it a pleasure to listen to; the songs switched from aggressive to mellow and from ugly to beautiful in seconds. Out of these elements, only the vocal features are still found on 'Arv' and the album ends up feeling like something is strangely lacking.

The clean vocals are still the best part of Ásmegin's music, especially when combined with the growls and female vocals. The guitar work has a folkish sound and together with the fiddles and accordions, the music as a whole does sound quiet authentic. Basically, the fundamentals for another great Ásmegin album are there; the problem is that moments that really stand out are far too few and that diversity is never a key element in any of the songs. The vast majority of the songs on 'Arv' are slow and plodding throughout without anything added to mix it up. Of course, there are some tracks that do manage to stand out from the rest (e.g., “Fandens Mælkebøtte”, with its waltz-like sound; and the title track “Arv”), but it is not nearly enough to save this album.

In short, I really have a hard time believing that this album will justify the excruciatingly long wait that fans had to put in before listening to this album. Perhaps it is just a mere sense of disappointment because of the fact that they did not make 'Hin Vordende...' part two, and perhaps the album may still grow. But after giving it a good dozen spins, the love that was there instantly for 'Hin Vordende...' has not shown up for 'Arv' yet and somehow the prospect of it blooming in the future seems quite bad. It's a pity, really.

(Originally written for http://www.gothtronic.com/)