Panphage – Ursvöl
For the most part tuneful Black Metal is a limp, flaccid undertaking; drooping on the fringes of the underground but mostly whoring itself for mainstream consumption. Rare are the exceptions to this. Taake managed to accomplish it admirably over recent years. Now we have a new contender with a refreshing secret formula proving that it can be done.
Sweden’s Panphage have seemingly achieved the impossible by marrying catchy tuneful melodies with raw underground Black Metal. The demo consists of five conceptual tracks based on the exploits and dark arts of the Giantess Hyrrokkin from Norse Mythology. I have no knowledge of this lore but reckon Hyrrokkin would be suitably pleased with the tone of the music that represents her; being both terrible and beautiful like a buxom Giantess would be.
I can liken Ursvöl to an upstanding well-to-do person, a pillar of the community…who later turns out to be a deviant murderer that shocks the community with their actions. Panphage waste no time in breaking the listener in as ‘Skall & Skalv’ roars open with pummeling bass drums supported by a haunting riff. It turns into an inspired thrashy beast though, and it has the ability to get your head banging and feet tapping to its weirdly entertaining melody. At times the subtle female voice of Hyrrokkin can be made out singing along to the music.
If you thought that was a great opening track ‘Svartmånfödda yngel’ builds upon the best bits of the first track by unleashing more hefty raw drumming with momentous riffing. The guitars almost sound like there is an acoustic track playing underneath the electric one. Its incredibly atmospheric and addictive to listen to. Over the past month this has had more airtime than anything else.
Then ‘A Haugi’ begins with what sounds like someone playing a banjo near a campfire. It blasts into a superb thrash-like chorus and then delivers more Norse inspired melody that should be right out of place but actually fits perfectly. It is the seamless blending of these two elements that make this music so interesting and compelling to listen to. I’ve never heard anything like it, check ‘A Haugi’ out on their Myspace page and you’ll see what I mean.
The title track is next offering a more straightforward (if you can call it that) tack but without loosing any of the unusual elements of surprise. The final track is a cover of a band called Glum and it fits nicely on the end and falls into place on the demo.
In theory what Panphage have done shouldn’t work but somehow they not only make it so but do so in an emphatic fashion. Such is the originality on this demo that it is something you really need to hear to appreciate. The potential is here for one of the great underground bands of modern times and with another release due sometime soon through Ætergap Productions I can’t wait to hear what they’ll deliver next.
Black Metal is dead. In the UK at least. Seeing as though it is the place that gave birth to the genre it is as fuckin’ useless a broke-dick dog. There is no scene to speak of, just the odd one or two equally useless bands trying in vain to mimic some of the more [...]
Opening with a song title of the length Bal Sagoth would be proud of (thankfully that’s as the only comparison to draw), the imaginatively titled ‘A Glimpse of the Image of Lucifer Gleaming Beyond the Subterraneous Black Sun’ marches forth. Mid paced, it stamps away with the precision of a well oiled Black Metal machine [...]
atmospheric and addictive. Right. Thanks for the recommendation.