Snowland

Now a pillar of Canadian black metal, Sorcier des Glaces rose from the humblest of beginnings with a promising debut in the form of 1998’s ‘Snowland’, and for a few years this remained the only information we had about this obscure project from the far north. But now boasting an impressive clutch of albums, gradually building in aggression and energy, it remains clear that the roots planted in this patchy but unique debut would never be fully abandoned. The first thing to note is the sound quality, which is undeniably poor, and ill-suited to the epic, Emperor-in-minimalist-form style we are presented with here. Normally we would leave it there and say the listener is left to make the best of it. But one of the reasons ‘Snowland’ (despite the later re-recorded version ‘Snowland MMXII’ released in 2012) remained such an enduring album was its ability to transcend these poor confines, either using them as an advantage or writing music that never oversteps the bounds of these very tangible limitations. Whilst black metal often touts raw production values as part of the package, this is one case where a cleaner mix would have been a definite boon; but the album shines regardless.

Right out of the gate we are given a demonstration of this artists ability to craft uniquely fragile melodies from the simplest of components, and their understanding of intuitive key progressions to augment the repetitive qualities inherent in black metal, without becoming imprisoned by them. Once the guitars kick in this approach is translated into mournful, tremolo picked chord progressions that communicate this album’s simple but perfectly executed core theme: a journey through winter. As the tracks unfold and the keyboards and the guitars trade lead duties, a fuzz of sorrow and solitude takes shape, forming the backbone of this album, and contrasting or complementary leads jump out to progress the music on its journey. The point being that because the mix is so delicately poised – its own limited quality threatening to plunge the whole thing into a murk of ill-defined reverb – all the elements are purposeful but not so complex as to overwhelm proceedings; all instruments are distinctive when they need to be, but tailored to combine harmoniously with their environment.

Vocals are a pervasive, ghoulish presence throughout the album. Following the same philosophy as the music they are set to; they never dominate or distract from the overall work despite remaining pretty constant throughout. Drums are forced to keep things basic which again is to the benefit of the final work, sticking to simple, mid-paced blast-beats or metronomic rhythms. Although this is nothing remarkable in itself, it’s a testament to both the importance of drums in this broadly minimalist school of black metal, despite the fact that even a vaguely competent drummer would grow tired of this self limitation for the course of an album, and succumb to the temptation to clog up the mix with overly elaborate patterns and fills. But this percussive presence operating in this consciously restricted style pioneered by Fenriz works in unison with the other instruments, defined as they are more by ambience than rhythm. It has the potential to elevate the music’s urgency or stagnation in these simple, metronomic patterns. All these things and more are exemplified on ‘Snowland’, an album that whilst superficially modest has many layers and an intuitive approach to its craft that sets it apart from many others in this crowded field.

‘Snowland’ is an album that has stood the test of time, and aged well even in the time of my acquaintance with it dating back to 2006 ish. But a word keeps cropping up when I compare it to similar works of the time, or even later entries in the Sorcier des Glaces catalogue; that word is ‘charming’. And carried within that word is the thinly veiled criticism that – despite boasting many successes – the work is ultimately missing something. We can nevertheless acknowledge that they tried. Whilst I don’t think this assessment of ‘Snowland’ is entirely fair, there are some shortcomings to this album that would be ironed out on the belated follow up ‘Moonrise in Total Darkness’.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Sorcier Des Glaces appeared on the professional black-metal stage with their debut release "Snowland", which I consider as on of the most impressive musical phenomenons during the year 1998. I was utterly amazed to hear such masterpiece from little-known canadian formation. My first impression about this gifted band was more than just positive and now I'll try to speak up all my ideas in the review.

Here appears the eternal question: "What is good and what is bad?" On one hand distorted sound and poor production adds much to the atmosphere musician had created, on the other hand this cannot fully display the talent and skills of musician's play though the release is very sincere in terms of music's ambiance. Some can retort that low quality destroys not yet even generated structure of the album but will be mistaken. To my mind it even helps listener to understand the release to a greater degree. Also we must keep in mind that it was only 1998, and there was a big difficulty for canadian guys to interest some label in their stuff, so we have now the self-released copy, also self-sold.

It touches you with its sharping coldness; you cannot just disregard "Snowland" and keep indifferent. Sorcier Des Glaces were doing it not only to entertain the listener, they just showed us how to play black metal. It takes to add that "Snowland" is not just professional release in respect of mixing and producing but very heartfelt too. It affords you a big pleasure while you listen to it and after.

Distorted but very pleasing guitar sound, putrid screaming, measured and live (what is significant) drums, thrilling and captivating, sometimes epic and depressive at the same time melodies all together give us a clear view of how "Snowland" sounds. It is an excellent work, trust me. It won't disappoint you anyway. Just set every stereotype and prejudice aside and enjoy.

Unfortunately, other releases by Sorcier Des Glaces including "Snowland" re-release in 2012 cannot be compared even to the debut. Some have pretty average material, some lost the certain atmosphere. So, we can easily draw a conclusion - "Snowland" is the best release of Sorcier Des Glaces by far and it still rocks.

To highlight: "Pure Northern Landscape Desolation", "Onward into the Crystal Snows", "My Journey into the Black Forest", "Night Throne".

Canadian black metal has seen a huge rise in popularity due to experimental bands pushing the envelop and risking all in an attempt to bring a new face to the scene. Whenever I imagine the Canadian scene, I think mostly back to bands of this nature, such as Gris, or rawer entities like Monarque and his associated bands, but rarely to primitive, second wave influenced black metal, which is precisely what we have here, in the form of Sorcier Des Glaces’ 1998 debut full-length, ‘Snowland’, a traditional name for a traditional sounding record. I haven’t got much information regarding the ins and outs of this records formation, such as influences and how it was recorded, or when the songs were written. I do know that this debut was self-released and seemingly self-produced with cheap equipment and very little money. Although this records abilities to perform melodic black metal, which it is described as being, are hampered by the production values, I still got the feeling that Sébastien Robitaille was destined for great things -- which seems to be the case, having heard, and loved, the sophomore record entitled ‘Moonrise In Total Darkness’.

Does this record push the envelop as much as its fellow countrymen in the modern scene? No. It really is that simple an answer. No, this doesn’t push many boundaries as far as reaching for the impossible with an experimental feel that overrides all other elements that appear on the record. It certainly does a great job at producing some quality melodic moments, mostly through the use of guitars, but the production isn’t the best with which to sample the atmosphere and soak it up. The production gives the record an under produced feel, akin to early second wave bands who had very little money with which to have a glittering productive values which made each element shine as if it were the bright sun. Although I imagine people will have an issue with the production, which will undoubtedly dampen the spirits of some, I can also imagine this record being able to tap into a whole new market because of its raw qualities, despite its very melodic feel. The melodies are distinctly infectious and do tend to linger in the memory, especially on songs like ‘My Journey Into The Black Forest’ which opens with a Middle Eastern sounding riff.

The juxtaposition between the raw production and catchy guitars is interesting to say the least. I find it rather enjoyable, though I accept that the production does hinder some of the finer points -- such as the bass, which is actually an integral part of proceedings, much to my surprise. The bass is a force throughout and alongside the guitars, it gives ‘Snowland’ a terrific vibe which overwhelms despite the problematic issues I have with the dense atmosphere the production places over the airy atmosphere created entirely by the well written instrumental parts. The vocals, also, have a tendency to have priority over the instrumentation, which I think is a negative aspect of the record. Take songs like the amusingly titled song ‘Pure Northern Landscape Desolation’. The song starts with a tremendous albeit slow bass line and a soaring keyboard section -- which plays a massive part in the positive atmosphere that surrounds the songs -- but the vocals seem to take precedence whenever they come into play, which isn’t the wisest move. I’m not too keen on Sébastien’s vocal experimentation either. He varies from Mayhem styled grunts, to whispers which just announce to the world he is using poor recording equipment.

Perhaps this is because the recording equipment captures the vocals better than it manages to enhance the soul of the music. If this is the case, then the production needs to have extra points taken away from it due to the fact that it constantly hinders the sweet sounding melodies that fly off the guitars. I was surprised that the bass is as audible as it is, but the guitars are too distorted and the music is played at a slow pace, giving each element its chance to shine under the spotlight. Although I said I wouldn’t consider Sébastien Robitaille’s Sorcier Des Glace an audacious risk taker, I do find that there is some experimentation happening before our eyes. Perhaps we’re left unaware because the grunted vocals stint the performance of the instrumentation, or because the production cannot handle such levels of originality. One has to remember there are limitations on acts such as this and even though Sébastien Robitaille is quite clearly a talented song writer and black metal musician, he is facing an uphill task by performing alone and given the fact that this is a self-produced showcase. If this were to be re-recorded, I’d be very interested in hearing the final product, but as it is, the record could be with some work. However, it does highlight a few positives like a good use of catchy melody and some terrific song writing, both of which play a key role in the future of the band.

Simple synth strains of ethereal nature start this album off to a predictable and rocky start. However, even within the low-fi sounds normally dismissed by even the most stalwart fans of majestic metal, one finds a powerful, dark, and earnest sense of melody and harmony as this intro actually builds emotion before the first attack of the full band is unleashed.

The first distorted riff on the album reveals the central character of this release: dark and unpolished, ambitious and oddly powerful, energetic and alive in a way only truly great demos can be. Melodic structure is driven by a mix of guitar chords and keyboard lines, which create a haunting blend of expansive tonality as complex chords, similar to those used to Shade, Taake, and Burzum, are lifted from their aggressive base to a conflicting feeling of obtuse contemplative sorrow and awe. Similar to the jaw-dropping power of early Emperor, this raw and relatively unknown one-man band crafts somewhat minimalist yet evolved music of an evocative and emotional weight. Quickly moving passages of guitars are sparse, and are counterbalanced with slowly moving rivers of chords, mutating with a paradoxical classical nature, as evidenced by about 1:45 into the third track. The music also ambles forward with the raw power and simple genius that makes such underground music so much more than most classically trained composers could imagine. Some of the more quickly-moving intricate moments of this album resemble early Abigor, which is a very hard band to emulate without sounding incredibly silly, but Sorcier Des Glaces seems to do it with unintentional ease.

Talent is certainly not lacking in the melodic performances of the instruments on this release, which are played without any over-theatrical gusto, but rather the intimate tortured earnestness of many of the great underground black metal performances; a menacing and strained effort to produce amazing effort bleeds through almost every note of the piece. Vast and epic caverns of melody are created, similar to the songcraft of later Deathspell Omega and Kvist, giving an intelligent and rare faculty that resonates deeply with the listener to overcome the idioms this band would certainly otherwise be shackled by. The music here is deeply emotional, amplified strangely by the raw production. There are some moments of musical ideas which come across half-formed and some which are too mired in stereotype to be enjoyable, but these are few and far between, and again, amazingly rare for such a first effort.

Drums here are slower and more reserved in many sections, but do push onward with some typical black metal blasts of medium speed which fit the mood and tone well. Percussion patterns here are what one would expect from a one-man band, but they are not canned and each beat fits the melodies it is paired with decently enough. Vocals for the most part are above-par, providing emotion and aesthetic to an already complex and dark emotional arc of sound. The tortured screams present on the vocal tracks do have a unique way of seeming distant or close depending on the intensity of the music, which adds considerable energy to an already dynamic performance.

Production is of course raw due to the low-budget nature of the band, and in fact this album found its way into the metal world only by slef-produced cdrs. For a self-mastered recording, it does present all the voices with decent clarity, and keys and guitars mesh well but remain suitably in differing registers to provide some sense of space. Again unusual for a first self-produced black metal recording, there is not an over-abundance of reverb which is refreshing, adding to the overall clarity with an astute sense of production.

Overall, this is by far the most impressive self-released demo I have ever heard in any style of music. Complexity and minimalism, darkness and expansiveness, a uniquely somber and unashamed mood, and an educated sense of songwriting and musical emotion are displayed with rare genius. Highly recommended.