NORDVARGR - 'Pyrrhula'

Track Listing:

A1. Another Weeping Doomlord Lost
A2. Inwards To Salvation
A3. Hascimh Reborn
A4. Aryana Of The Open Wound
A5. Stripped Of All But My Loyalty I Serve
B1. Pyrrhula
B2. Tordön





Reviews:

"With it’s mixture of grim and dark ambience, bleak drone expanses, doom / slowed blacked metal tone and funeral industrial rhythms, Pyrrhula builds a highly effective soundtrack for a dead, barren and grim world of endless darkness. The tracks are built around a mixture of grim and barren drone emissions, stretched out and suffocating blacked doom guitar fogs, occasional grey splatters of creepy and evil sounding vocalising that’s half black metal and half grimly theatrically, ritual to slowed industrial beat patterns and the general air of decaying dread and hopelessness... Really this is one of the most pitch black slice of sonics your come across this year... It’s a grim and pitch black masterpiece with each track simmering with such a great prime evil and dread filled air that’s sure to curdle and sour even the brightest atmosphere." (5/5, Musique Machine)

"Henrik Björkk is the bleak genius behind Nordvargr, and with this latest release, he comes across as one demonic Swede. Pyrhulla delivers us eight tracks based on Swedish folklore and has all the elements one could ask for in a dark ambient work. With some frightening vocals sprinkled throughout, the entire collection of songs plays as a cohesive whole and brings the listener into a depth of despair that bottoms out and then drops you just a bit farther down; there is absolutely no light at the end of this long and truly dark tunnel. Those of you familiar with Björkk’s other work with Toroidh and MZ.412 will delight with the direction he tas taken this blackened masterpiece... Crisp, cold soundscapes laced with exquisite horror allow us to classify Nordvargr along with other greats of the genre such as Lustmord. Kick back with a massive subwoofer and have yourself a dpooky, depressive ride into the darkness." (Zero Tolerance)

"The new album from the Swedish lord of darkness aka Nordvargr is based on the Swedish ‘Doomlord’ mythology. Musical wise we’re entering a pure doom-universe. Humming sounds from the depths of the earth are emerging to the surface and are floating over a vision of eternal night. It’s like some kind of monster moaning, haunting dark dungeons and other sonic corridors. The sound of “Pyrrhula” is a remarkable kind of soundtrack style for an imaginary horror vision. Hard drones like thunder are coming out the speakers while dark humming sonic manipulations give you the impression of a nearby apocalyptic vision. And when you think that the heaviest visions of fear are right behind you the tormenting screams of “Hascimh Reborn” are right in front of you. It sounds like the call of the evil and brings you into a new exploration of your deepest feelings of angst and stupor... a solid piece of terrific dark and doom ambient... one of his best releases to date!" (Side-Line)

"Drone doom ambience doesn’t come more blacker than when Nordvargr has his hands on the brand. More than hungry to meet expectations head on, Nordvargr drags those hellwards to the cold pit heart of a Sadako-troubled Well. Pyrrhula isn’t an album to sit still in a tone-rut and circle itself; the tracks here seem to seep forwards seeking to push the record into the genre’s far corners. While it’s unmistakably Nordvargr, this is no re-run of past journeys... The slow trek continues through fields of frost, drudging oil and pulsing organics in industrial patterns as well as thick soundscapes – the depth suffusing all the record’s cells. Pyrrhula goes out on a high – finales don’t get much mightier than the grave closer ‘Stripped Of All But My Loyalty I Serve’. this piece’s blooded chants and tar-clotted strings leave all genre links behind, and Nordvargr’s future looks magnificently bleak." (Rock-A-Rolla)

"The atmosphere on this album is so thick its almost suffocating and could easily have fitted into a scene directly taken from some eldritch tale from the Lovecraftian mythos... When it comes to dark releases this is a state of the art journey into the absolute centre of the dark maddening abyss... this album truly is a heavy injection of feeling and eldritch atmosphere... its more than music, it is living breathing horror in its most intricate form of existence... he pinpoints both the feeling of dark and brooding existence as well as forming an atmosphere that conceals you in that landscape of sound that he so skillfully creates. Like a harbinger of doom he crows out his message with each album he makes and like a machinery of doom that darkness that lurks inside Villa Bohult feels so unreal yet so sinister that you cant shut it out...  I guarantee that this is a purchase no one will regret" (Heathen Harvest)

"Like every year, hyper-prolific Nordvargr doesn’t fail to submerge us with new releases, the latest being “Pyrrhula”, conceived under the flags of Cold Spring. It’s a collection of “black ambient / drone works” composed between 2007 and 2008 and centred around the topic of the “Pyrrhula”, a sort of bad omen bird or doom lord, very popular in the ancient Swedish folklore. The eight tracks of the album show Mr. Björkk waving an impeccable dark ambient in the tradition of the Cold Meat school, far from the noisy edges of MZ.412 and Folkstorm. The solemn and catacomb-like atmospheres of “Pyrrhula Two” and of final “Stripped Of All My Loyalty I Serve”, the subterranean miasma of “Hascimh Reborn”, with echoing cave vocals, and the heavy industrial thuds of “Tordön” don’t miss the target and will surely satisfy the supporters of the Swedish giant, as well as of the Norse school’s deadly sound." (Filth Forge)

"[Nordvargr] can always be trusted to bring something freshly horrifying to the table, and no exception is to be made in the case of “Pyrrhula”. While the album’s billing as ‘a pitch black journey into utter darkness’ seems like your usual black ambient/drone marketing, it’s actually very close to the mark; the darkness almost drips from this fascinating disc. A droning, reverberating, distorted atmosphere in unrelenting across the eight tracks on offer, and gives a feeling that is part naturalistic, like freezing winds across a post-nuclear wasteland, and part mechanical... That no one seems to be able to pin down the origin of this tale actually only serves to make the album even more creepy; it’s the soundtrack to your sanity leaking from your ears, but at the same time is completely engaging and fascinating, with the kind of horrifying atmosphere that is so well-crafted you can sink into it without noticing its component parts. Masterful" (Hierophant Nox)

"This eight-track album sees Lord Nordvargr deliver a hugely impressive palette of immensely dark and crushing dark ambient compositions, complexly constructed with minute layers of sounds, washes of noise and echoes, manipulated drones, tolling chimes, distorted vocals, spectral choirs and distant spoken-word samples which intermingle into one another to create an engulfing cacophony of powerful otherworldly black ambience that is as enticing as it is alienating.., Pyrrhula possesses and delivers with its multilayered sound sculptures." (Judas Kiss)

"...despite the ambient/drone label the listener can wait for something more than the usual hummings / bass frequency noises. Tracks like the opening "Another weeping doomlord lost" or the following "Pyrrhula one" mix guitar drones, synth pads, growling vocals, organ sounds, keeping the tension level high sounding also various (the least it could be possible into this musical genre). There are also some moments where Nordvargr prefer to be true to the pure drones / dark ambient palette but the whole album doesn't and it has many creepy atmospheres and good sounds." (4/5, Chain D.L.K.)

"His Nordvargr guise combines aspects of Mz.412 and Vargr. Pyrrhula is based on an old Swedish folktale, but that's hardly obvious from its ambient soundscapes. While the record lacks lyrics, it has plenty of vocals. These help make it more than just a foreboding video game soundtrack. Distant moans... subterranean rumblings... anguished cries... labyrinthine haze... choral vocals that recall the soundtrack to The Omen. Cavernous reverbs and detailed sound design create an otherworldly atmosphere... The darkness here is free of histrionics, which only makes it more unsettling" (Allmusic)

"An album filled with extremely dark black ambient songs, in which his metal roots are very much present. Yet he differs from most in the genre with his high quality productions and inventive sound structures. Overwhelming is not a word to be used mildly with this mans output... all the elements are there again for a pitch black evening. ... This album delivers again in ultra heavy drones and very dark atmospheres. It's also genuinely creepy in its sound structures, perfect for a night of utter darkness. Like I already said, the man needs no introduction, so people into Nordvargr know it's again an essential release. And for lovers of dark music in general, highly recommended!" (Gothtronic)

"Dieses düstere Werk von Nordvargr zu hören ist, als ob man in die düstersten Abgründe gezogen werden würde - „Black Ambient Droneworks“ steht auf dem Cover und nichts anderes bekommt der Hörer hier in jedem Knochen zu spüren... Nordvargr's „Pyrrhula“ strengt an, reißt den Hörer aus seiner normalen Welt und schickt ihn direkt in einen Alptraum aus Geräuschen und Bildern, die sich vor dem geistigen Auge auftun. Selten habe ich das so zermürbend erlebt. Garantiert nicht für jeden geeignet, garantiert auch nicht jeden Tag zu ertragen – wenn man aber einmal in der Stimmung für puren Kopf-Horror ist, dann ist dieses Album absolut zu empfehlen." (Medienkonverter)

"Es vermengen sich sehr düsterer Ambient, Doom-Klänge und Industrial zu einem düsteren und verst renden Klangerlebnis, das einen kaum loslässt. Dabei stimmt auch die Abwechslung und die einzelnen Lieder gehen zwischen einfachem Dröhnen hin zu rituellen und dann wieder zu noisigeren Klingen. Dabei erlebt man ein durchgehend verstörendes Gesamtbild, das nur diffuse Bilder im Kopf erweckt, die zwar nie konkret werden, aber dafür nebelige und Angst Ahnungen hinterlassen. Nach 45 Minuten ist der Horrortrip dann vorbei, lässt aber auch dann nicht richtig los. Das Album ist zwar vorbei, die Bilder aber bleiben"" (Alternativmusik)

"...l'oscurità in cui viaggiano le glaciali manipolazioni industriali ed ambient di Henrik non ha davvero una fine. "Pyrrhula", un concept-album ispirato d una vecchia leggenda svedese, è l'ennesima conferma delle infernali capacità manipolative di Lord Nordvargr. Le otto tracce che compongono questo album è sono la colonna sonora di una reale discesa negli inferi, un inquietante turbinio di sibili, tuoni, buchi sonici e sinfonie spezzate. Prolificità a parte, il sacerdote Nordvargr ha nuovamente celebrato in maniera lodevole il suo infinito cerimoniale oscuro" (Ascension)

"Black Ambient-Soundscapes zugewandt, die an düsterer Kälte und schier undurchdringlicher Finsternis kaum zu überbieten sind. Geisterhafte Stimmen, okkult anmutendes Stimmengemurmel und rituelle Beschwörungsformeln sowie undefinierbare Geräusche bahnen sich immer wieder ihren Weg durch diese Dunkelheit, verstärken aber nur den Eindruck von Unbestimmtheit und einer undefinierbaren und kaum greifbaren Tiefe... So fressen sich diese acht Dronen in betörender Langsamkeit kompromisslos und unaufhörlich in das Unterbewusstsein des Hörers, der zum Ende des Albums erkennen muss, dass sich die Welt nach "Pyrrhula" verändert hat. Ein absolut beklemmendes Werk." (Obliveon)

"Gli otto movimenti del disco sono strutturati su droni cupissimi e gelidi che creano una dark ambient torbida e satanica, rinforzata da samples mortiferi e dalla voce catacombale di Henrik... Memorabili sono anche le lente e fugaci sessioni ritmiche costruite su rumori campionati, finalizzate ad accresce il senso di asfissia sulfurea... Henrik si riconferma un ottimo artigiano dell'elettronica, capace di sfornare lavori a gran velocità e tutti di buon livello: il suo è un sound industrial da catena di montaggio che non prevede errori e, in alcuni casi, si lascia andare a vezzi artistici, testimonianza della zampata di un maestro. Forse il miglior album che Nordvargr ha firmato in questo 2008." (Darkroom)

"Deux vérités, se croisant via l'album mi-chemin entre nature et mythe, et deux substrats sonores en concurrence : une première couche, poussiéreuse, traduisant par de mouvantes et sourdes textures des visages climatiques type drone... Nordvargr, lui, est dans cette quête intégrant le bruit. Il creuse, sculpte, cherche une ouverture sur l'ailleurs, l'inconnu... Cette petite musique, c'est finalement un peu celle d'une boîte noire: une transcription de ce que personne n'a pu voir, de ce que nous aimerions savoir afin de prendre de nouveaux repères. Par sa nature même, la musique de Nordvargr est porteuse d'un mystère. Elle porte ailleurs, veut embrasser un indicible que l'on rapportera aux domaines du rêve." (Obskure)