By: Anders

Posted: Nov 23, 2005

All I remember to have heard by this Swedish band prior to this, their album, is a track on an old Displeased Records sampler, a track that must not have said a lot to me, since I didn't check the band further out, back then. Though that might have been a mistake, if their old material is as good and well-written as the music on "Vredens Tid".

First off, the album oozes of atmosphere, when listening to the music, it's like being put back in time. Melancholic spheres are working their way into the mind of the listener, while the music is blasting away. Heavy metal done with a black metal approach, together with many folk elements to spice it up and to create the perfect viking metal atmosphere, a thing Månegarm does more or less to perfection. We are presented with violin en masse and it sounds really good and gives a lot to the atmosphere, which takes us back to archaic times. The guitars are great as well, and drive the music nicely forward. The drums are straight forward and punishing with a lot of double kickdrum work, at first the very direct and kinda brutal drum work seems out of context, but the more spins the album gets it is very appropriate. At other times, when the music slows down and drives on the atmosphere, the drums are working as percussion. The vocals, going from a great clean, very melancholic vocal, to the grim rasp, to the great choirs and the fragile female vocal, all goes hand in hand with the concept of the band and music, and fits perfectly into the universe of Månegarm and makes the experience even better. The music works in itself, but the vocals are the icing on the cake.

The recording and production of the album, done in Studio Underground with Pelle Säther is also great and very fitting. The sound is powerful, a bit raw, but still as clean so the instruments get through the soundwall and shows all details.

This is quite and impressive album that stunned me upon the first listen and the got better and better. Atmospheric yet metallic viking metal with an medieval and melancholic feel, which seems to be out of this world. Really good song writing with catchy tunes and a lot of details, which makes the album more and more interesting together with the amount of spins it gets. This is classy as hell and "Vredens Tid" should mean the breakthrough of this band.

Rating: 9½/10

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