Trollstorm over Nidingjuv

Everything that was going on in Norway in the beginning and mid of the 90's was definitely one of the most exciting periods in the history of metal music. And I'm not talking about the murders, suicides or church burnings, although these things have underlined the atmosphere of those times. I'm talking mainly about the music that has been recorded then, more than about anything else. You must admit that all these bands that have raised the flag of Norwegian black metal have created an amazing genre; there are albums that simply overwhelm with the atmosphere and the music. Cold, grim, hateful, majestic, epic... All these things have been present in the sound from the North. What was even more surprising was that many of these bands have been created by young boyz, just check how old Ihsahn was when recording "Emperor" for the split with Enslaved or Satyr, when recording "Dark Medieval Times". Or Nagash (the crusher of mountains), who created his band Troll at the age of 14. By then he had two companions (Fafnir - the one who screams and Glarung - he who swings the battle axe), but at the time of recording the first material, "Trollstorms Over Nidingjuv", he was left alone in the band. But can you believe that someone so young was able to capture such a dark, creepy and hateful atmosphere in the music?

I can definitely say that "Trollstorms Over Nidingjuv" is one of my favorite materials from the mid 90's from Norway. Criminally forgotten nowadays, just like band's debut album "Drep de Kristne" (the title means Kill the Christians in English), this is supreme 90's Norwegian black metal and if you worship the very early recordings from Ancient, Dimmu Borgir or even Darkthrone, then also this band is for you. There's straight forward riffing, fast and relentless in "Over Daudens Kolde Mark" or more midpaced and majestic in "Trollstorms Over Nidingjuv", but however it is, it creates an astonishing, cold and misanthropic atmosphere, one which was and still is so damn hard to resist. Comparing "Trollstorms Over Nidingjuv" to the future Troll recordings, you won't find here any keyboards, but there's no feeling of emptiness, as the guitars play their leading role well enough.

OK, sometimes the music might be relatively simple, "I et Hedensk Land" reminds me Darkthrone's early albums in that aspect, as the riffs in it are similar to "Transilvanian Hunger" track for instance, it's basically two or three accords, all played in devastating fast tempo and in rather monotonous way, without breaks or whatever, but such playing has its charm and effect, especially with those furious screams of Nagash. Besides, I must say I really like the riffs Troll had and even if sometimes I have a feeling they didn't know how to finish their songs ("Naar Natten Endelig Er Her" especially), it still sounds great. And trust me, there is some truth that such music sounds best when you take a walk in the snow covered woods with the headphones on the ears and freezing cold accompanying it.

Troll’s first EP ‘Trollstorm over Nidingjuv’ offers straight no-nonsense Black Metal. Although originally released as a demo, these tracks were recorded at a professional recording studio, and the result is a clear sound that isn’t synthetic or overproduced. The guitar-sound retains enough rawness needed for this kind of Metal. The songwriting is rather simple, but effective. The riffs are cold, the drums and vocals are typical (in a good sense) for mid-nineties Black Metal. The speed of the music varies between mid-tempo and fast, only the second track is interrupted by a few acoustic guitar-parts. In sharp contrast to Troll’s (very good) debut album ‘Drep de kristne’, no keyboards are used on this release (except for the intro). The last track ’I et hedensk land’ seems to stem from another recordingsession than the first three tracks; the sound is rawer on this one, similar to the sound of Darkthrone’s ‘Transylvanian Hunger’, and also the music is heavily influenced by that album. ‘Trollstorm over Nidingjuv’ is not a classic of the genre and its music was rather unoriginal even when it got released back in 1995, but I can not find any major complaints about it either. It is good for what it is - a ‘nice’ (I know this term is not fitting for this musical style) little Black Metal EP.

No matter what questionable music Nagash has later created with Troll and his other bands and projects, ‘Trollstorm over Nidingjuv’ offers sincere Black Metal. It is definitely worth listening to and can be recommended to everyone interested in this kind of music.