Dødheimsgard

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Dødheimsgard
DHG logo.gif
Dødheimsgard at Complexity Fest, Haarlem 2018
Dødheimsgard at Complexity Fest, Haarlem 2018
General information
origin Oslo , Norway
Genre (s) Black metal , progressive metal
founding 1994
Founding members
Björn "Aldrahn" Dencker Gjerde (until 2003)
Yusaf "Vicotnik" Parvez
Current occupation
Guitar, vocals
 Yusaf "Vicotnik" Parvez
guitar
 Tom "Thrawn" Kvålsvoll
bass
 Kristian "Clandestine" Eidskrem
Drums
 D'arn
Sound effects , synthesizers
 Jormundgand
former members
Bass, vocals
 Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell (1994–1995)
bass
 Jonas Alver (1996)
Guitar, drums, vocals
 Ole Jørgen "Apollyon" Moe (1996–1999)
Svein Egil "Hologram" / "Mr. Magic Logic "/" Zweizz "Hatlevik (1998-2003)
guitar
 Thomas Rune "Galder" Andersen (1998)
violin
 Stine Lunde (1998)
bass
 Cerberus (1998)
Drums, guitar
 Carl-Michael "Czral" oath (1999-2003)
singing
 Mat "Kvohst" McNerney (2006–2008)

Dødheimsgard is a Norwegian metal band from Oslo . It was founded in 1994 by Björn "Aldrahn" Dencker and Yusaf "Vicotnik" Parvez as a pure black metal band , but changed their style with the 1999 album 666 International , incorporating avant-garde elements and elements from industrial metal to experimental progressive Metal with various influences. The band's name means something like ' home of the dead' or simply ' realm of the dead '. Since 2000, Dødheimsgard have been using the abbreviation DHG to describe themselves .

history

In July 1994 the band recorded a three-track demo cassette which was never released.

In 1995 Dødheimsgard released their debut album Kronet til konge on the German label Malicious Records, which until 1997 mainly sold Norwegian black metal bands (such as Gorgoroth and Borknagar ) . Aldrahn took over the vocals and the guitar, Vicotnik the drums. Gylve "Fenriz" Nagell from Darkthrone and Isengard played the bass .

The follow-up album Monumental Possession was also released in 1996 via Malicious Records. On this album Jonas Alver from the band Emperor took over the bass parts, the second guitar was played by the Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Ole Jørgen "Apollyon" Moe ( Immortal , Aura Noir ).

In 1998 the EP Satanic Art was released on the Norwegian label Moonfog Productions , which was founded by Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven ( Satyricon ) and Tormod Opedal. As with the previous albums, Aldrahn sang and played guitar. Vicotnik also took over some vocal parts and now also played guitar, but under the pseudonym “Mr. Fixit ". Apollyon only played drums this time. Svein Egil Hatlevik from the band Fleurety played keyboards and piano under the pseudonym "Hologram". Thomas Rune "Galder" Andersen from the band Old Man's Child played some guitar parts and Stine Lunde played the violin in the song Traces of Reality .

This was followed in 1999 by the album 666 International , which was released through Moonfog Productions. Aldrahn, Vicotnik, Apollyon and Hologram (this time under the pseudonym “Mr. Magic Logic”) remained part of the line-up, plus Carl-Michael “Czral” Eide (he worked with Satyricon, Ved Buens Ende and Aura Noir, among others ). He took over the drums and guitar parts.

In 2003 Aldrahn left Dødheimsgard and the band became quiet. It wasn't until 2006 that Mat "Kvohst" McNerney was announced as the new singer.

Eight years after the last release, the album Supervillain Outcast was released on March 26, 2007 in Norway and on April 17, 2007 worldwide via Moonfog Productions. The line-up on this album has changed a lot compared to the previous one. Only Vicotnik, who in addition to the guitar work now also programmed sampling and sound effects and Czral stayed on the drums. In addition to the new singer Kvohst, Tom “Thrawn” Kvålsvoll on guitar, Kristian “Clandestine” Eidskrem on bass and Mort, who also sampled and programmed. Shortly after Czral recorded the drums, he was the victim of an accident in which he fell out of the window and was paralyzed on both legs . Because of this, he left the band and had to be replaced.

On March 20, 2015, the album A Umbra Omega was released on the British label Peaceville Records .

style

Concept and texts

Vicotnik, who describes himself as a Satanist and still invokes the rules of the 1990s black metal scene, regards song lyrics as essential. They should match the song, the album and each other and be copies of each other. His aim is to ask the listener questions about the topics and texts and to create thoughts and visions in their minds; he himself prefers albums that appeal to him in a non-musical way.

On the first album Kronet til konge there are songs with both Norwegian and English lyrics. Starting with the follow-up album Monumental Possession , the texts are written in English throughout.

The album 666 International contains nine actual tracks, the last is Completion , but after this there are another 59 hidden tracks without content, so that the album contains 66 tracks and has a playing time of 66 minutes and 6 seconds. This concept underlines the title of the album.

Dødheimsgard's album Supervillain Outcast , in German 'outcast super villain', is about recognizing “mechanical, faceless structures” and emancipating them in order to find a “lonely, dark place” in oneself and from there to redefine everything; in this process you recognize your abilities. Translated into a biblical sense, Supervillain Outcast means Satan : Lucifer questioned the structures of his environment and took on the role of an outcast. In his own realm he fulfilled his self-chosen prophecy. It's about breaking the frame of your own situation and evolution on the other side. On this album, Vicotnik attached importance to taboo-oriented texts with traces of paradoxes and irony.

music

Dødheimsgard's music is referred to as avant-garde black metal by the music press and advertising . The existence of a genre of its own called Avant-garde Metal , however, is controversial, which is why the band mostly goes to Progressive Metal , because of the electronic elements to Industrial Metal or because of the band's roots in the Norwegian Black Metal scene, to Black Metal is assigned. An exact assignment is not possible due to the various influences. Vicotnik assigns the band to Black Metal, which is more mentally and less tonally defined. Karagiannidis Panagiotis from Metal Paths describes the band as an “outstanding black metal genre”.

The music on the debut album Kronet til konge is classic Norwegian Black Metal with a catchy drum track, typical melodic guitar lines and rough screeching vocals with a reverb effect. In retrospect, the album received good reviews because it sounds particularly true to style, but above all the lack of new elements or a more progressive approach was criticized.

This progressive approach came with the follow-up publication Monumental Possession . On this album, the band incorporated elements from Thrash Metal in the style of Bathory and avant-garde elements.

The band went even further on their EP Satanic Art . Keyboards and piano are used here, and for the first time sound effects and samples can also be heard. The speech samples from Traces of Reality and Wrapped in Plastic come from the TV series Twin Peaks . In the song Traces of Reality you can also hear a violin, which helps create the gloomy atmosphere. This EP can be seen as the first glimpse of the massive musical change the band embarked on with 666 International just a year later.

At 666 International Dødheimsgard mix Black Metal with different elements, mainly from Industrial Metal and Cybergrind . At first glance, the result is an unconventional, chaotic sound in which very catchy rhythmic passages alternate with incredibly fast blast beat passages. A good audio example is the title Ion Storm , which begins with almost spoken text in front of an electronic background sound with partly onset of guitar riffs and then builds up increasingly tension. The singing on the album is very varied. It is no longer just the classic screeching vocals of Black Metal, but is mostly screamed, sometimes growled . One of the reasons for the blatant musical change is the influence of other Norwegian experimental and avant-garde bands that also published via Moonfog Productions and from which many members of the band came, such as Ved Buens Ende , Fleurety and Aura Noir .

Supervillain Outcast represents a significant further development of the band. The music appears partly influenced by oriental music. The reason for this is Vicotnik's half Indian descent. He tries to process his cultural origins in his music. In the song The Snuff Dreams Are Made Of you can hear weird flute tones, which alternate with a didgeridoo-like synthesizer noise , creating a driving rhythm. Squeaky and rustling electronic noises are used throughout the album, but also "screeching" guitar tones generated by bending . Frequently the tempo and the structure of the songs change. The singing of the new singer Kvohst is just as diverse as the Aldrahns on the previous album, but clear, mostly polyphonic singing is very often used in the background. The title Secret Identity is a pure a cappella - canon . The overall atmosphere of the album can be described as disturbing, alternately depressed and angry.

Discography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ news. Moonfog Productions , archived from the original on July 24, 2011 ; accessed on December 9, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Oliver Side: Vicotnik (dødheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende) - Part 1: An Odyssey Of Lost Teeth , July 8, 2007, accessed on March 11, 2013.
  3. ↑ a b Karagiannidis Panagiotis: Dodheimsgard (Vicotnik) , February 19, 2011, accessed on March 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c d Yiannis Stefanis: Experimental Musical Outcasts . CoC talks to Vicotnik of Dodheimsgard , May 25, 2007, accessed March 11, 2013.
  5. ↑ a b c d Dodheimsgard  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 24, 2007, accessed March 11, 2013.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.metal1.info