Naglfar - Vittra (1995)

It often amazes how much this band/genre (and others like them) are either extremely hated or lovingly embraced. While its true that most people categorize this as melodic black metal and its influence from Dissection's, 'The Somberlain' is obvious, but at least 'Vittra,' Naglfar's debut, has more in common with the early Swedish Gothenburg scene, such as an album like In Flames 'Lunar Strain.' This is largely due to the cleaner production, overly melodic character and the lack of great atmosphere and huge bursts of speed. Nevertheless, I guess I belong more to the latter embracing view on this one as its always been a record I've enjoyed.

Naglfar in '95

Naglfar, was formed as early as '92 in Umeå, Sweden and in '94 the 'Stellae Trajectio' demo was released followed by 'Promo '95,' otherwise known as 'We are Naglfar - Fuck You!' 'Vittra' was released in May of '95 via Wrong Again Records, and it features no less than seven songs from these demos re-recorded plus two completely new songs.

'As The Twilight Gave Birth To The Night' opens with a light ambient intro before thundering into hammering drums, melodic riffs and Jens Rydén's shrieking voice and continues steadily at an energetic and mostly violently pace, though two softer spots can be found midway through with an acoustic part as well as a part near the end where synths are introduced and briefly take the forefront amongst the action. 'Enslave The Astral Fortress' has the same commanding melodic presence throughout most of the song as well as a rather killer solo followed by an atmospheric synth part midway through.

These first two songs give the listener a fair idea of what's to follow and although it doesn't get much different I'm much of the opinion that the quality remains strong for the remainder of this record. All of the songs have a good sense of melody, which to me makes the album all the more catchy with its exciting leads and occasional solos, as well with an audible and sometimes brilliant bass guitar presence there's plenty of great string action to endure. All of the songs, except for the title track, offer up a great deal of energy and chaos largely due to the string work and Jens' relentless screeches, which will be entirely hit or miss with most people. The synths rarely take the center stage and are not even used that much, but the way they linger in the background of a song like, 'Emerging From Her Weepings' is quite effective in achieving an atmosphere.

The '01 re-release adds the 'Maiden Slaughter' demo from '96 to the end and it features an early version of '12th Rising,' which would later appear on 'Diabolical,' as well two covers in the form of Iron Maiden and Kreator are included, which are both just fantastic variations of these oldies.

In the end, 'Vittra' probably isn't a black metal album, in fact the whole melodic black metal genre is pretty much fubar, but some of BM's traits are clearly there so I have no idea what to chalk it down as. What I do know is that in the ten plus years that I've been listening to this record I've never once got sick of it and while I probably prefer the follow-up more so, this one is none the less awesome in my opinion.