Skoddefjellet

With a 4 track demo, Mistur brings us some Sognametal, the old fashioned Windir-way. Unlike their 'sister band' Sigtyr, Mistur does not use electronics to add to their sound, however they use organ and piano.

It is improbable that you have heard of Mistur without having heard of Windir, so I'll assume you are familiar with Valfar's works. Mistur's two songs feature epic-like riffs throughout. One guitar will be playing a moderately paced epic riff, while a backing guitar is tremelo-riffing, very reminiscent of Windir. Great keyboard work, especially on the title track. An interesting thing I caught: the main tune from 'Heimferdi' is from Beethoven's Symphony no. 7, Op. 92 II. Allegretto. The other two tracks on the demo are instrumental and very beautiful.

Mistur is a band to keep a watchful eye on, as well as the member's other project Sigtyr, but I think that Mistur is playing exactly the style that Valfar-mourners long for.

Mistur is a black/viking metal band with significant folk influences, from Kaupanger/Sogndal among the grim and frostbitten mountains of west Norway. They play an original kind of black metal where the strong inspiration from Folk music is very apparent. When I heard this, I got instantly interested, probably because of my big fascination of Windir (The vocals are inevitably influenced by Valfar) and general norwegian folk. So i got myself a copy, put it in the CD player and was heavily astounded by the beautiful compositions and the well performed folk intervention. Also the lyrics are evidently very prioritated, since they have an own member to write the lyrics. In my opinion, the lyrics are absorbing and interesting, mainly because they deal with old norwegian sagas. So if you've read enough, check out this demo even before I start talking about the songs individually.

The demo starts with an acoustic intro entitled "Sumar", which obviously enough simply means "summer". Intentionally, it gives you assosiations with west norwegian summers and works as an indubious perfect introduction.

The first real song at the album is called "Heimferdi" (The journey home) and serves you a lot of decent melodies. As the first riffs kicked in, I was not immediately impressed. The only thing I hear is a mediocre and traditional black metal riff, but when the vocals arrive, the situation drastically changes. This new part is marvellous. The vocals fit perfectly to the music, and the rest of the riffs give you a kind of "Soknardalr- Arntor"- feeling.

After a so far decent listen, my definite favourite streams out of the speaker. "Skoddefjellet" is seriously a masterpiece. Though it starts out with a conventional and atmospheric keyboard intro, there are also parts that are violent and heavy. The balance between melancholy, brutality and pure magnificence is incredible. Overall, the best and most powerfull song on the demo.

"Natt ved Kyndilstjern" is an arranged old folk melody, where distorted guitars now and then consequently interfers. At first, I wasn't very overwhelmed by this song, but as it grows on me, I seem to enjoy it more and more. The only thing I find difficult with this song, is to distinguish between the instruments, a fact that only is caused by exuberant complexity.


Since this is the band's first opus, it certainly deserves a higher score, but unfortunately, I only consider musical ability and not experience when I write reviews.
But if this band keeps developing, we may have another thing to brag about here in Norway...