Ånden som gjorde opprør

So far in Mortiis's dungeon synth saga, we've seen Håvard take on the darker sides of the medieval world from the depressing, lonely emotions in "The Song of a Long Forgotten Ghost" to the more explorative thoughts in "Født til å herske". Starting with "Ånden som gjorde opprør", however, we start to see Mortiis enter into a more melodic and angelic tone in his albums. The album's title is literally translated to "The Spirit that Rebelled", and it's a fitting name since it goes against the dark atmosphere of the previous releases. While "Ånden som gjorde opprør" is slightly inferior to the previous album, it's still an amazing album.

The album contains two songs titled "En mørk horisont" and "Visjoner av en eldgammel fremtid", with the former being 3 minutes longer. The album is also considerably shorter, clocking in at almost 40 minutes in total compared to almost a hour with the previous works. Despite this, the atmosphere is still just as powerful. The synths are at an even higher quality, with the instruments having more clarity and dynamic in them. The melodies are also more upbeat and bouncy, giving the listeners a more positive look on the songs. Of course, there are still some darker tones in the album, like the more somber riff that plays around the 7 minute mark in the first song. However, the different tones in the album are mixed well, as they make the overall atmosphere feel tense, yet light.

But if there's one element that the album is slightly lacking in, it's the lyrics. Håvard's vocals are fine in this, but the way the lyrics are structured in the songs are bizarre. In the first song, Håvard sings about someone looking over a depressing forest. This vocal portion is executed very well with the more gloomy tone of the synths. However, a few minutes after the vocals are done, it cuts to what sounds like bells playing a happy melody. The change is drastic, and it can distract people in their first listening. It's the same for the second song, where the lyrics talk about someone hating nature. The vocal portion fits well with the atmosphere from the instruments, but they then move into a more blissful tune a few minutes after. It isn't the worst, but when you're listening to the album for the first time, it can be slightly off-putting.

Despite a minor scratch in the composition, this album is still great overall. Mortiis experiments with a more dreamy atmosphere, and it pays off with better-sounding synths and improved lyrical themes. While it isn't perfect, "Ånden som gjorde opprør" still remains the perfect album for those who want to experience more melodic tunes in dungeon synth.

So, the album artwork for Mortiis' debut full-length album "Ånden som gjorde opprør" is somewhat comical to me. It looks as if Mortiis is pointing into the distance at something of particular interest and exclaiming "hey, you guys! Look over there!" Now, while the artwork seems a bit funny and, at the same time mystically beautiful, the music here is absolutely perfect. This album is one of my personal influences for my dark ambient/space music project Lunar Dusk. Mortiis left Emperor prior to the release of "In the Nightside Eclipse". He performed bass on the EP, as well as the demo "Wrath of the Tyrant", and was active in the band from 1991 to 1992, only for a short time. Moving on from Emperor, he formed this self-titled dark ambient/darkwave project. I really haven't listened to much of Mortiis outside of the album, but maybe it's about time I did, as this album is one of the most important releases of all time in my opinion.

The music here remains consistent throughout the album's duration of just under 40 minutes. There are two songs on this album entitled "En mørk horisont" and " Visjoner av en eldgammel fremtid" respectively. Although this guy was no longer into black metal at this point, Mortiis still retains that dark, atmospheric, some would say medieval vibe that many bands such as Burzum, Satyricon, and of course Emperor implemented into their music. Being released in 1994 along with some of black metal's most prolific albums to come out of Norway, such as "Vikingligr veldi", "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss", "Transilvanian Hunger", "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", "Dark Medieval Times", "The Shadowthrone", and "Pentagram", this album had a lot to live up to. And while it may be completely different by not containing any metal whatsoever, it's still a quintessential release. As I stated earlier, this album still has a similar atmosphere to black metal, even without the buzzsaw-like guitars and drums, and harsh vocals. The music here is simplistic and repetitive, and trance-like. The synthesizers really dance around like a full orchestra and work as such. These two long songs may borrow similar ideas from one another and do little to differentiate themselves from one another, but that seems to be the goal here. To work as one flowing musical adventure into the darkest winter forests of Norway.

I stumbled upon this album a few years ago and since I first heard it, it has never let me down. With each new listen, I find things to enjoy that sound familiar yet at the same time, seem oh so new. I can't say too much about this album that hasn't already been said, as it is, point blank, an orchestrated masterpiece of dungeon synth music that elevates the listener to new heights. Mortiis definitely did himself good by moving on from Emperor and releasing this work of art. While I love Emperor, I can honestly say that this rivals even "In the Nightside Eclipse" in terms of overall music quality and atmosphere.

A great purple mystery looms high, a vast stone temple stretching into the starry sky. A foggy shroud clouds the mind of the wanderer as he stumbles through a strange landscape filled with ancient towering monuments, rotting tombs, fearsome beasts, and unholy necromancers. It is a place for lost spirits, where the unknown is not some abstract concept, but rather a permeating experience of the world. One meanders through, over, and under this setting of dreamlike beauty, simply soaking in the primal grace of each new vision.

Of course this is one of the defining masterpieces of dungeon synth, mandatory for anyone claiming to have interest in the genre. It is very similar to "Keiser av en dimension ukjent" in style as well as tone. It has gone through two different artworks, the first being a purple landscape with several shots of Mortiis in his famous troll mask and attire. The second cover for this album, implemented first in 2007, is my personal favorite of John Bauer's artwork (whose fairy tale paintings were also used for "Keiser av en dimension ukjent" and "Crypt of the Wizard"). I'm not familiar with the tale associated with the illustration, however the contrast of darkness, magic, and a sort of bright mystical innocence is perfect for the music here.

This is an album that one must get "caught in the flow" for. It's a cosmic stream upon which a young entity is drifting. Sometimes it is slow and majestic, with colorful, sparkling visions to behold on either bank, but at other times one hits the rapids, a grand medieval skirmish. It is an album perfect for daydreaming, which I personally consider to be the primary mood dungeon synth caters to. It is so magical because it gives the listener the power! It is not its own fantasy world, so much as providing a set for contemplation, where the listener can build their own fantasies (the exceptional art of it is connecting to the listener in a parallel way that allows such daydreaming).

The music, of course, is simplistic. It uses the same vintage synthesizer found on all the Era 1 Mortiis albums. It seems, and one can read from interviews with Mortiis himself, that he did not know how to "properly" play the keyboard, but if ever there was evidence that grand artistic visions could be created through raw inspiration, it can be seen here. Many might be capable of performing this work, and its formula is a relatively easy one to follow, but very few dungeon synth records reach such majestic heights. Though it is quite similar to "Keiser av en dimensjon ukjent," the primary difference is that it is more adventurous and not so introspective. Mortiis just explores the mystifying inner fantasy land he has created, and is not questioning "why?" or reflecting so much. This work is much more about being in awe of this realm, content to wander about it, taking in all of its atmosphere and wonder. It seems more fresh, green, youthful, and colorful than the two works preceding this, as if a grand magical kingdom started to bloom, a spring to the winter that was "Født til å herske" and "The Song of a Long Forgotten Ghost."

The (translated) lyrics of the second track go as follows:

Many years have passed since the tyrant - the guardian
of all keys and the master of the time-walls
was spit out. By a weak human she...he
was not loved by the elements of nature.
Neither earth nor water was held high by him,
he hated the nature, the earthly unknown

In this Mortiis is possibly taking a stance on dreams and fantasy. One is "spit out" into a world of biology and instincts, pressured to fit within a certain framework of his fellow mammals, and yet, that "tyrant" might feel another calling... And so the dungeon synth dreamer takes up his skull-topped staff and wanders into the unknown world within, isolated and lonely, but able to experience the magic of lost ignorance. Nature will contradict those instincts, the logic of which goes "mimic your brethren, reproduce," and yet he heeds the call of the unearthly realm, behaves quite contrarily to all his instinctual urges and the examples around him, and so the archetypes of nature curse him in their own way, its robotic children shunning that "master of the time-walls."

It is possible that these instincts would've been "natural" in a pre-civilized world, the dreamer becoming a shaman of the tribe through a symbolic death of the individual, and yet in the chaotic torment of modernity we are now experiencing, dreamers seem to fall through the cracks. With nobody to seek their message, and no avenue through which to satiate the urges of the longing spirit, the dreamer must choose to either relent and give in to the tsunami of progressing civilization, or fight back and feel the full force of the "hate of nature," the repugnance and misunderstanding of the surface-dwelling men.

But this album is far from simply a philosophical confrontation against modernity. In fact, it is an outright avoidance of that confrontation, recognizing the impossibility of victory, not even knowing the specific entity with which to wage battle. It is merely the call for the escape, beckoning one toward the mystical visions within, the only place where true meaning can be found. But this is not right either, it's not simply the call for escape, but also the gateway into the dreams of that grand decadent kingdom, one in which the listener is God, tyrant, and pilgrim. It might destroy the earthly man who wanders that weird, forlorn trail of dungeon synth, but on that journey he will experience sights of profound obscurity, seen by few other mortals.

http://dungeonsynth.blogspot.com/

Although this album is usually lumped in with the hordes of black metal bands that sprung up from Norway in the early 90s, among them being symphonic experimentalists Emperor whom which Ellefsen (aka Mortiis) played bass for on their earlier EPs Emperor/Wrath Of The Tyrant and As The Shadows Rise, Mortiis albums are far from black metal - or any metal for that matter. Just as the scraggly troll depicted in the cover art is armed only with a short dagger, Mortiis arms himself with a single keyboard of which the whole of the sound on this album is compromised.

However, as Ellefsen carried on from his black metal past, he still bore a heavy black metal vibe, harking back to Satyricon's Dark Medieval Times and Burzum's Aske EP. The music created here is similiar to the images of misty moors and castle ruins found inside the glossy booklet of past Emperor efforts - neoclassical, medieval-sounding synths creating an atmosphere of dark forests and triumphant troll marches best left to the listener's imagination for the most powerful impact. Couple this with the odd Nordic naration here and there and Mortiis successfully creates a mood of ancient triumph and mythological wonder.

Opening with a lower bassy entrancing rhythm layed beneath a mysterious higher, more epic synth, the album comes alive with the first track stretching over twenty minutes long. The second track isn't much shorter and is comprised of similiar musical ideals.

I'd recommend this to anyone drawn in wonder to the mysterious, folkloric sound of old Scandinavian black metal and dark ambient, fans of medieval-style fantasy and basically any ambient listeners in general. This is music to daydream of orcs marching to war, magick rising from the depths of deep lakes and churches set aflame in the dead of night, marking a blaze in the northern sky

Onward from the slower, majestic predecessor, Fodt Til A Herske, Mortiis continues to bring you on a journey with the epic releases he has created. With Anden Som Gjorde Oppror, he is able to continue with his musical anticipations. Unlike the slower, more emotionally connected predecessor, the sophmore album of Mortiis shows a different side. You can just picture marching into a battle with this music being the ambience to surround you with every step you take upon the frostbitten grounds.

Words can hardly describe Mortiis. As in the first full-length release, Mortiis continues to create music that's like the soundtrack of a majestic film setting. Though unlike the first one with the mere castle standing within your vision, Mortiis decides to bring a more epic warlike theme to the second full-length release. You'll feel ready to march into battle to slay the enemies. Unlike most warlike opus' you find, this release is more natural form of the warlike atmosphere that remains to keep you on the edge of your seat with passion for the true beauty that music can create and allow you to visualize.

Mortiis again is able to define the true wonders that music can create upon the souls. Showing the more natural sounds of atmospheric brilliance through his early works. With the heavy, more furious sides of music. Possessing very harsh surroundings in a medieval visualization, and then to persue a light more peaceful side. Even with war, there must be peace. Mortiis is able to capture both sides of the spectrum through this second journey known as Anden Som Gjorde Oppror. Mortiis is also able to conclude both epics with a climatical ending that reaches much higher plateus each time.

This album cannot be denied as a brilliant work of art. Mortiis is able to display every feeling in a manner so clear with this release. From the more angered emotions, to the victorious feelings, to the darker emotions still lurking in the shadows. Everything in put together into the perfect formation to show all aspects of the story being told. Much like Fodt Til A Herske, Anden Som Gjorde Oppror was able to tell a story with not a dry moment. All of it remains a beautiful essence of the true art behind his musical brilliance.

There is no questioning of Mortiis' creations. This album is clearly parallel to Fodt Til A Herske with the true feeling of Mortiis lying right inside the undertow, but at the same time has a soul of its own that is sometimes hidden under the shadows of Mortiis's first release. Everyone will remember his very first masterpiece, but this one shows an equally, if not more powerful beast as Mortiis is able to mature his sound. When in comparison with the predecessor it's clear that Mortiis has evolved through the time between the two releases as he makes a more complete feel with this second album. It can no longer be shadowed and break out of the cacoon as it brings its own spirit into existance with two new epics which keep the body of Mortiis' music, while expanding the horizons into the very peaks of each mountain, and higher into the heavens of musical beauty, power, and epic brilliance.