Mondo Bungle

Vinterriket

Vinterriket (literally, the winter realm) is a man of many albums. An extensive discography of mostly ambient, in fact. The metal stuff focused on an unorthodox style of black metal, interlaced with programmed drums and neofolk influences.

Having as many albums has he does, there’s bound to be some clunkers. After giving up on black metal he switched to a strictly ambient/neofolk sound. Some is great, some is definitely boring. Programmed drums and synths are used heavily in these albums, to create a “shinier” ambient.


Der letzte Winter - Der Ewigkeit entgegen

Here’s one of the more metal oriented albums, with just three ambient tracks. His trademark ambient soundscapes set the tone for that shiny black metal. The guitars are raw but the synths swirl together with the riffs. His vocals on this ambient are reminiscent of Varg on Filosofem. Drowned heavily in feedback. They are pushed underneath the music. Combining the rawness with the synths is a really great sound. These synth sounds are often epic and folky sounding. Still have a neofolk influence in here, with many string instrument sounds, and bells and woodwind sounds and whatnot. Even some electronica infusion.

It’s something different in the world of ambient and black metal. Opposed to Immortal, he utilizes repetition and simplicity in the riffs and the atmosphere is just great. The programmed drums work well enough, but not enough soul as a drum kit. All the qualifications are here, raw, atmospheric, and cold. Once again and artist who has dedicated his project entirely to the Winter. Synth melodies are everywhere, but there’s some especially great and epic sounding. Check this out for an example, great atmosphere and plenty of beautiful synth lines in here.




Horizontmelancholie

As mentioned earlier, the ambient albums are pretty hit or miss. Here is one of the better ones. black metal is gone, and we hear some clean and deep vocals a la neofolk. These albums have a pretty dark feel, amplified by the album covers in grayscale or black and white, samples of swirling winds. It’s quite immersive, you get sucked in. Oddly enough, I feel these ambient albums catch a more epic atmosphere than the black metal ones. Synths are showcased, it’s like a forest, man. Quiet and cold for those nights of snowcapped trees and building fires.




Let’s give it up for Gaahl, well besides wanting to torture a gay man to death and drink his blood. This guy lives on the top of a cold Norwegian mountain in a lone cabin built by his grandparents, tell me that’s not cold. A pretty black metal guy too:

“Gaahl is a practitioner of Norse Shamanism and can often be seen wearing a Mjölnir pendant. Gaahl has stated that his intention with Wardruna is to bring Baldr out of Hel so he can die an honorable death and return to Valhalla.”

He’s one of them prejudice dudes though. He came into Gorgoroth a bit into their career, it wasn’t the best era. Gorgoroth’s first two are classics of the genre and really great in the relentless department.

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