Vintersorg

Solens Rotter (Napalm)
by Scott Hefflon

Vintersorg singer Andreas Hedlund offers vocal duties to metal supergroup Borknagar (calling himself Vintersorg, no less), one of the best prog/extreme bands short of black metal masters Dimmu Borgir. His warm, passionate, folky vocals add depth to any metal band he’s in, and Vintersorg is his band, and I’ve reviewed his releases favorably since 2000. Admittedly, his own band is often a tough sell to the uninitiated (“no really, it’s not dorky, he’s got a great voice”), cuz really, the rampages are kinda thin, the snarl is kinda weak, and the vocal lines of the clean singing are often simplistic and clunky “follow the guitar.” The man’s an artist, they say (and he does concept albums), so perhaps he has a higher purpose in mind than creating heartbreaking, passionate metal songs with consistency, but man, that’s what I wish he’d do. Drop the skimpy thrash, fuck the roar (leave that to the metalcore dumbasses with no depth), and record big, swelling, heart-wrenching songs of loss, heritage, and humanity. Acoustic, dirge, blackened: Whatever, just sing, dammit. Lament and mourn, reach for the stars, and cuddle warm by the fire with the ones you love.
(www.napalmrecords.com)