ALBUM REVIEW: Som Finden Farer Vil – Ildfar

Norwegian black metal, particularly the second wave bands of the early-to-mid ‘90s, is a scene that has had more than its fair share of exposure. Its ideals, history and musical fingerprint have left a deep, dark and undeniable dent in the heavy metal chassis, so massive that it even occasionally bleeds into mainstream culture. Often when it comes to this traditional norsecore, there is almost nothing left unsaid, so on the rare occasion that fresh music, written around that time and in that place but never fully formed into a physical release comes up, it is a most exciting prospect. Such is the case with ILDFAR, a one-man project formed in 1994, which wrote material but never felt the need to release anything for over 25 years. Now, project mastermind Favn feels the time is right to reveal debut album Som Vinden Farer Vil, but will it be a time capsule to the closing moments of one of metal’s most evocative and notorious periods, or would it simply have been better to be left buried by time and dust?

Som Finden Farer Vil opens with Taakeheimen, a supremely cold and lo-fi intro that builds tension before we are thrown headlong into the grating tremolo of Under Sorte Vinger. Being the first proper look at Favn’s masterwork, it reveals a track which lurches to and fro between sharper, faster riffing and lumbering mid paced segments, lashing together both murky ice-rimed guitar tone and otherworldly synth backing. It also utilises clean vocalisations at certain points, lending a distinctly paganistic tone to the track. Fans of the more esoteric and earthy sounds of the Norwegian variety will be delighted with the track almost immediately, as it stirs to memory the overt, freezing melody and pitch-black atmosphere of early ULVER or ENSLAVED.

As the album progresses, we are treated to the first of many moments of sheer caustic rage. The Last Dawn is faster, dirtier and more aggressive than its predecessors, spitting fiery riffs and relentless drums across a savage, barking vocal performance to tremendous effect. This archetype of utterly shattering black metal fury is revisited at multiple points throughout the album, with urgent, bludgeoning drumwork and vitriolic riffs apparently being Favn’s favoured language. Tracks such as Under The Graves (Of 1994) and Lyset I Skumringen are built around this blueprint, but probably the strongest example is mid-point devastator Pesten, which derives its menacing aura from a recurring speedy riff which can best be described as “KREATOR circa 1986 after a bad day and a fistful of amphetamines.”

This is not to say however that ILDFAR play one note with brutish simplicity, there are numerous occasions which seem to push the envelope of what we would usually expect from Norway in the 90s, such as the clean intro and almost sung vocal of Behold The Throne, the dungeon synth odyssey of Vandring, or the sporadic jolting madness of excellent title track Som Finden Farer Vil, which veers wildly between cold acoustic atmosphere, genre-bending folky riffs and pummelling double bass, all sporadically welded together with white hot flashes of traditional blackened misery. There is more to this album than simply parroting the old days it seems, the longer it goes on the more it feels like something of an elevation of what has preceded it.

As the closing strains of Norges Haller batter your mind into submission, chances are a thought will cross it. If you have even the slightest bit of appreciation for the second wave of black metal, then Som Finden Farer Vil will feel oddly familiar. Specifically like a lost classic, one that maybe a tenacious friend swore you would love but you never got around to it, or perhaps something you picked up, second hand and dog eared from your local purveyor of all things blackened and misanthropic.

Either way, ILDFAR have produced something that manages to take the ethos and spirit of a notorious scene and make something fresh and interesting out of it. It manages to be faithful and inventive, without falling into the trap of lame regurgitation like so many others. Just try and remember, it actually came out this year…

Rating: 8/10

Som Vinden Farer Vil is out now via Northern Silence Productions.

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