Attergangar

Ever since the tragic death of Windir front man Valfar (RIP), several new bands started forming over the last few years that were greatly influenced by the band. These groups of bands are described by many as "SognaMetal". While only a demo has been released thus far, Cor Scorpii is a very promising band that definitely has potential. Attergangar is worth a listen.

It is obvious that Cor Scorpii has been greatly influenced by Windir. For those of you who have heard Windir, you can expect Attergangar to sound like a mix of Likferd and 1184. The production is crystal clear without trying too hard. For those of you who haven't heard Windir, in short you can consider Attergangar to be a melodic, extreme metal release with some black metal and folk elements tied in. (I guess I can compare them to middle-era Enslaved, but that might be pushing it a bit)


The songs as a whole are quite catchy, easy to listen to, and very accessible. Everything just flows nicely. The guitars have a thin, clean sound that move the listener and never really bore them. The lead guitar parts are very similar to that of Windir and offer a fresh sound that always comes into play right before any lagging would appear. The drums are also quite thin and only add to the intensity as well as a somewhat audible bass.

Vocals are also similar to that of Valfar's. In fact, if I hadn't known he died, I would have certainly thought he was doing the vocals on Attergangar. Øvstedal does an excellent job ranging from harsh vocals to incredible clean vocals. Perhaps the only difference between him and Valfar is that Valfar may have had a little more emotion in his vocals than Øvstedal, but there is nothing I would change about the vocal performances on Øvstedal. Clean vocals here in general really bring the album out, as well.

Keyboards are used sparingly - mostly as synths in the background to contribute to the overall atmosphere. Sometimes they are more apparent - Transcendental Journey is a good example here. In each track, there always is something notable that the keyboard player does.

This small little demo only has 4 tracks: 2 in English, 2 in their native tongue clocking in only around 23 minutes. Yet there is no filler - each song offers something new and something noteworthy.

"Fall of Man" reminds me of "the Spiritlord" off of Windir's 1184 album. Soaring riffs and excellent clean vocals make a great presence in this track. "Transcendental Journey" is probably the folkiest track on the album. It offers various types of synth tones and instruments which combine well with the lead guitar. The title track is probably the slowest song on the album, and it's also the most melodic and atmospheric. More outstanding clean vocals to be found on this track. The final track, "Når enden er god", is similar to "Fall of Man" because both are very catchy, but this track is generally more melodic and reminds me of Windir songs like "Heidra" or "Ætti Mørkna". The lead guitar solo at the end is amazing and ends the demo very well.

In short, Cor Scorpii and its demo Attergangar aren't quite Windir, but it's one of the closet you'll ever get at remaking the magic founded by the band. There aren't any real low points on this album. It's neither too pretentious or over the top. If you couldn't get enough of Windir, Attergangar is highly recommend for listening. But even if you've never heard of Windir, Cor Scorpii's Attergangar offers a nice paced extreme metal piece that seperates itself from the usual, mundane generic crowd that floods the metal world as we speak. And if this review hasn't convinced you yet, just go to their website and download the 4 tracks for free. You can't really beat that.

Cor Scorpii were only an idea, until the tragic death of Valfar, the front man of Windir. While Valfar's death was a sad ending to the band, it seems that Windir will be continued under a different name, i.e. Cor Scorpii. The reason for this is that Cor Scorpii sounds a lot like Windir and this demo is probably what the next Windir album would have sounded like.

Vreid were a continuation of Windir, however without Valfar it just wasn't the same. This band has only two members from Windir, so I guess Valfar's genius must have rubbed off on them or something. Either that or the new members brought something new to this band.

Let me just start with the vocalist, let me just say he sounds a lot like Valfar and yes he can do clean vocals. This is definitely a positive thing. As the band IMO would be less interesting with the clean vocals. His black metal vocals are also quite good so you won’t be disappointed with them.

The guitar riffing is very similar to that which is found on 1184 and Likferd. However there have also been some symphonic elements added to the mix, where in Windir, there were no symphonic elements like there is here. To put it simply, there were symphonic elements in Windir but not on the same scale as there is here.

The drumming isn't as good as it was in Windir. However, this doesn't weaken the music at all. It's still good enough to get the job done. So you won't come away thinking the drumming ruined it.

All in all, this is a promising start to Cor Scorpii. Like most people who have heard this demo, I am very excited about the up coming Cor Scorpii album, as this is a very promising start. Finally, Valfar's legacy will be continued with an appropriate act. Don't get me wrong, Vreid aren't a bad band, but this is basically Windir just under a different name. The future is a bright look for Cor Scorpii indeed!

Conclusion: The above is recommended for download, as it has sold out, you can download it from their site for free.

Rising from the ashes of the legendary Viking metal band Windir, three previous band members, have went on to form Cor Scorpii. Simply put, this is a triumphant return and logical continuation of their previous path that, once, seemed destined for greater things. Cor Scorpii delivers quite the treat with flawless production (on a demo?) and very well executed, glorious dual guitar riffs and tasteful, never overdone keyboards to appease any fan of this genre of this Viking/folk metal music. The vocals are mostly growled with few clean variations, which might lead you to believe this to quite similar to a lost Windir album. This is not entirely without merit, however there are enough subtle differences to easily distinguish them. Depending on your perspective, this can either be embraced or loathed by the metal community but I cannot fault these musicians for their dedication to the music they love. I hesitate to call this a demo because of the spectacular production quality and the professionalism showed in these four songs. My main concern is the lack of material, which explains my general dislike of demos and EP’s. It was only a matter of time before such high caliber material found a label. Anxiously awaiting Cor Scorpii’s new full-length as should anyone else with an interest in Viking Metal, Folk Metal or extreme, harmonic metal in general.

What of the Demo? Well I must admit that the first time I listened to it I wasn't as pleased as I hoped I would be. It wasn't bad at all, but it didn't give me what I wanted to hear to put it that way. The good news though is that when that happens to me the music usually grows. This is what happened with this demo. It grew and grew and now I like it very much. The production that at first might seem like it favoured the guitars more(which they have said, but it wasn't something they decided on, it was a production/mixing problem or something to that extent) but then after listening to it a while the different sounds became clearer too me. Even though the vocals on the first and second song wasn't meant to be that way(volume wise) I think it gives the two songs a new dimension. Makes the two songs seem more different then they might be.
The demo starts out heavy and everything sounds very professionally. Which it also is. The musicians are all very good. Which I did expect. Now the vocals I must admit I wasn't all that happy about in the beginning. Don't ask me why, I can't really explain it. But now that the demo grew on me I like them very much. Very good job on the growling my friend(Thomas obviously). I must admit that typing vocals can be a little confusing since Gaute the keyboardist also sings. He does the clean vocals which I also think he does a good job at. They are a little to low on volume for my taste, but you hear them good enough to know.

Song by Song:

Fall of Man:

This songs starts out fast and heavy and there is a lot to like about this song. The growling are delivered the way they should be and the riffing accompanying it is just perfect. Because of the low volume on the vocals it's hard to hear what is being sung, but I bet that will be fixed when their full cd is released one day. The part where the clean vocals comes in is really good. The singing fits the part completely. Usually my complaints about norwegian black metal or that genre in general is their lack of variation. But this I think Cor Scorpii has handled this well. They also add other elements that I really like.


Transcendental Journey:

When I heard this intro the first time I thought it sounded cheesy and was a little to circus for me(hahaha I know, I'm crazy). But now I really like this intro. It starts up the song just right. Here the vocals are more upfront and it's a lot easier to hear what Thomas sings about. The keys seems to be more prominent to or it's just that I can't hear properly at all times . I do not know if Gaute has heard Mundanus Imperium, but his keyboard patches and playing reminds me of them(or rather the keyboard player of that band). In a good way of course, because I liked the keys there. Everyone does a really good job on their respective instruments. And while I don't forget: I must say I like the solo playing of the guitarist(s?). Tastefull(of course, not tasteless hahah, sorry about that mistake ) and the right solos at the right time. The chorus to this song I wasn't all that sure if I liked it at first. But now it is one of my favourite parts of the song. Did I say I liked the keyboards in this song?

Attergangar:

This is the first of the norwegian songs on the demo. The growling is back to the volume of the first song, but for some reason it's easier to hear now that it's norwegian. Maybe it's not that weird?
Pretty riff-driven song, or I guess you actually can say that about the whole demo. I was originally gonna say that I liked this one less than the two before. But then I must've forgotten the really good part that starts around 02:04. I like the way it builds up with the guitars first and then enters the keys who are once again reminiscent of Mundanus Imperium. But then after that comes a calm piano part that reminds me of Winds. Or more correctly the keyboard player and how he plays the piano. Even though this song had a calm piano part it never lets up. But it really doesn't matter, because it never becomes stale or boring. It manages to keep me interested all the way through. Gaute also does the clean vocals on this song. The part that the clean vocals starts with also is the outro part of the song which is really good. It slowly builds down. Really good.

Når Enden er God:

All the songs except track nr 2 starts out heavy and fast. Which would be something I won't necessarily say I don't like. But perhaps they could've tried to not start all songs like that. But that's just a nitpick from me and really doesn't degrade it. This is the first song that I can really say that is the weakest of them all. I can't really point my finger on any thing. But I think that it doesn't really have all that many memorable parts for me. The growling and playing is good as always, but there is something lacking.

All in all this is a very good demo. Just the right amount of variation and heaviness for me to like it. The production is really good I think. Even though the guitars are too high mixed at times. The keys as I have said is little to low in the mix. And there is something about the vocals sometimes. But it doesn't really degrade the product if you ask me. I can overlook it, because this is really good.
My favourite tracks would be the two first with the third track on second place.