Forgjord – Sielunvihollinen

We’re in the midst of what passes for a heat wave in the Seattle area as I write this.  I know, we’re wusses of the highest order around here.  It’s like 85 or 90 for a few days in a row and everyone starts bitching about the heat, and August is usually the only month when we really, truly get summer around here.  And we still complain about it after a few days.

I bring this up because I’ve wanted to write my review of this album for a while, and I figured that maybe if I listened to some really grim, Finnish black metal that maybe the frostiness would seep through the speakers and I might cool down a little.  Didn’t work, but this is a kickass album and it’s time you know about it.

This is the 3rd album for Forgjord, although damned if I’ve heard of them before.  After doing my radio show and writing these metal reviews for some time now, I’ve come to the conclusion that are a virtually limitless number of these bands that are really good, but at the very obscure end of the underground metal world, so unless you literally stumble over them you’ll never hear them.  Which is really a shame, and why I like to review these album especially, so at least a little light can be shed on these bands.  Not too much light though, or they’ll get pissed off.  Some of these guys just crave the darkness.

The album title translates roughly to “Soul Nemesis”.  At least that’s what the promo sheet tells me, and who am I to argue when I don’t speak Finnish.  It’s a fitting title, as the music contained here just sounds pissed off, aggressive, grim and basically the antithesis to a soul.  At least as I think of it, the soul is supposed to be the source of all things good and light and spiritual, and this music is anything but.  Topics covered in the lyrics include hatred, anti-Christianity, lycanthropy and death.  So not exactly the life of the party for most people, but those of us who love black metal aren’t usually the life of the party anyway.  I’ve had a couple days lately where I’ve been just pissed off with people in general, angry with the state of the world, and I tell ya, this release really hits the spot when you feel that way.  It has provided a much needed release for me even though I can’t understand the lyrics.  It’s the atmosphere that truly matters in black metal anyway, and these guys truly deliver.

Track 2, which Google Translate says is called “Death Is Not Worth It”, is a superb piece of black and roll, but the rest of this is just pure, evil European black metal.  You can imagine that frost blasted, forsaken Finnish landscape, where nothing survives, nothing is good, and the ethereal bleakness just takes over your soul.  And it feels so good.  If you understand what I mean, find this release. 

- ODIN