Glittertind's 2009 LP release "Landkjenning" is a collection of Norwegian folk music, poetry, and history most accurately researched, reinterpreted, and retold with a modern heavy metal style and voice. This is not a metal album first; however. Many songs, both whole and in parts, focus primarily on the sanctity and honest delivery of
Norway's lore. Many songs, both whole and in parts, focus primarily on the sanctity and honest delivery of
Norway's lore. For example, if a song was originally done with flutes and Harding fiddles, they are not replaced with synthesizers or guitar pedals. Thus, what is metal is relegated to what is left to play metal. To add, with the exception of one track, all of the songs are in the native tongue instead of English. To realize the essence of "Landkjenning", one would have to first and foremost acknowledge these certain aspects of this work of music.
The strength of "Landkjenning", of course, is the authenticity of the music colored throughout. The opening track, "Landkjenning" opens with a chorus chant, a soft middle, and an ending emotionally patriotic and anthem-like. "Nordafjells" uses the aforementioned Harding fiddle and cello. "
Glittertind" twice leads with a flute highlight accompanied also by fiddle and even has some accordion. The last song, "Overmate Full Av Nade" echoes with a long-noted organ line, and finally, the best track on the album, "Longships
And Mead" (the one track written and sung in English) is dominated with a flute lead and accordion background.
As great as "Longships
And Mead" is, with its drinking style vigor and high powered anthem-like chorus, it is atypical to the rest of the album. All of the other tracks are slow to mid-tempo, sung in Norwegian, heavy but not always hard, and most of all arranged from previous works whether by poem, music, history, etc. Sometimes to a foreign ear, the totality of all things Norwegian can be overpowering, such as "Mot Myrke Vetteren", an eerie acoustic piece with an ominous bass line that serves as a distant background to the vocal work. The inflexions of the language revealed by this spotlighted voice are too alienating. For the other tracks, this feeling is mired by the wonderful tones of both the arrangement and instrumentation, but it is still there, and how one receives this work can almost be entirely based on how one reacts to that feeling.
Still, "Landkjenning" is truly wonderful with great range, style, execution, and production. It's carefully crafted, well thought out, and if nothing else, provides fans of metal with at least something different.
Together with
Glittertind's excellent musicianship, "Landkjenning" is not only remarkable but one of the better albums to come out in 2009.
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