King of Asgard - Fi’mbulvintr

August 19, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

This has been a great month so far in terms of some new bands finding their way into my psyche, and ultimately yours if you’ve trusted my judgment over these past few months. I hope I’ve been leading you to some great bands.

I saw the comparisons to Dissection, a band dear to my cold heart, so I hoped for another band like Germany’s Thulcandra that corners that sound and just exploits the hell out of it to the nth degree of greatness. While moments like that are few and very far between, King of Asgard from, you guessed it, Sweden issues its first full-length in Fi’mbulvintr.

When the first track “Einharjar” hit my ears I immediately started smiling and scanning the online shops to pre-order my copy. I was that certain I wasn’t going to be disappointed and I’m not. In addition to some very interesting and true Viking/black metal in the vein of Dissection, Thulcandra, and some Primordial, there’s an abundance of really catchy riffs here in tracks like “Wrath of the Gods”, which feels like Storm of Light’s Bane for the modern era. While not racing an invisible clock for cold metal supremacy like some music of this type, Fi’mbulvintri is a welcome time machine back into the period of true black metal with a Scandinavian lining that not only entertains, but inspires and lifts you to a higher plane of thinking. For the fan of this type of metal King of Asgard is just what the good doctor orders.

The songs are the perfect length; they don’t overstate their positions, and they’re not so short as to leave the chapter hanging in the balance. While many bands vie for the longer songs to make a point (usually lost in the process), tracks like “Snake Tongue” and “The Last Journey” are just long enough to transport you and short enough to bring you back unscathed. “Brethren of the North” has a chorus that isn’t so much a sing-a-long as it is a melodic calling to arms and camaraderie, making even a Chicago boy like me long for some cold Swedish weather. Killer production throughout makes it a can’t-miss as well.

I truly wish more releases were of such high caliber; I’m being irreparably spoiled by such overwhelming material of late. It once again makes me happy for the future of the genre. With classics-in-making like “Einharjar”, and “Brethren of the North”, Fi’mbulvintr is a glorious burden on your Viking-themed soul, as emotionally fulfilling as it is mentally heavy - a trip for the ages.  

Release Date: August 13, 2010
Label: Metal Blade Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Intro
2.  Einhärjar
3.  Vämods Tale
4.  The Last Journey
5.  Never Will You Know of
     Flesh Again
6.  Wrath of the Gods
7.  Snake Tongue
8.  Brethren of the North
9.  Day of Sorrow
10.  Lingering a Sacred Ground
11.  Heroes' Brigade
12.  Strike of the Hammer
13.  Fi'mbulvintr (Outro)

Total playing time:  52:37

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