Customer Reviews

Vengeance

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone who heard God's Musicians or Vittrad know that Garmarna plays old Swedish folk songs, and makes it move mountains. This record is no exception, but its somewhat different from God's Musicians. It has got more of a synth-style background, which takes it closer to "normal" music, and that why I don't put a 5-rating on it. God's musicians was so far from what you normally hear, but Vengeance is closer with it's chords and tunes. There are also more modern instruments involved, as pianos, synths and so on. If you ever heard Hedningarna, its more like them.

However, I still like it more that God's Musicians, since this one takes their concept furhter, but closer. This makes it ideal as a starter for you journey into the Swedish Ethno Folkmusic, but if you are already a fan of Garmarna, this is YOUR choice! "The Vulture" (I think thats the name, I've got the Swedish version, on which it's called "Gamen") is actually really close to the techno vibes of The Prodigy, while Euchari is more of an hypnotic chanting. And, as usual, the lyrics are so good that it's horrendous! Taste this: "The first day she stood as bride, the next day chained in iron". If you're not familiar with the Swedish language, I'm happy to offer free translations.

It truely is an odd but successful mix of folk and rock. Somehow, even under all of the grinding of the electric guitars and the rapid beat of the drums, the folkloric aspect of the music still dominates and dictates the tone. The singer has a really awsome voice, soft and melodic, which provides a well-balanced contrast to the sometimes violent rythms of the instuments.

I do have to agree with a previous review that it is a shame that the lyrics are printed only in English, while the songs are sung only is Swedish. I always find it interesting to compare and contrast, or try to sing along, even if I do not know the language.

The CD also includes a small video, which makes the agressive but also hypnotic caracter of the music visible!

All in all, another amazing product from NorthSide!!

From the first kick-off of astounding techno merged with ancient Scandinavian to the last, soaring note, Garmarna manages to make an album which brings Swedish legends to life. My favorites on the CD have to be the opening hair-raiser, "Gamen," the CD's title track with its unforgettable opening sound of a heart beating, "Vedergallningen," and the melodic "Euchari." And it is obvious from a glance at the CD's lyrics (sadly only printed in English) that Garmarna wastes no time on toning down the blood, violence, and magic of its selected folk tales. Another plus is Emma's beautiful, soaring voice, but even when it's absent the instrumentalists do a wonderful job, as evidenced by the song's only non-vocal track, "Polska."

The CD's only drawback, I believe, is the lack of explosive emotion and sound immediately following the opening track. The ending track has actually put me to sleep a few times, disappointingly, and the rest of the CD seems unable to match the frenzied pace set by "Gamen." Still, this album is definitely worth your money, whatever the drawback.

But seriously folks, if it were possible to respectfully and successfully do a remake of "Virgin Spring", this would be my choice of a soundtrack for it. If you love this music, rent the video and see if you agree. Garmarna has woven its mastery of the Swedish medieval ballad, with all its sorcery, passion, violence, and the doom laden shadow of Ragnar¿k, into a hypnotic tapestry that modern instruments and technology only enhance. This band has perfected the vision which has guided it through its previous five star efforts, and it will be a hard act to follow.

Emma's voice and presentation is the most poignant and believable in Nordic music today, with a loving nod to my friends Kirsten BrŒten Berg and Agnes Buen GarnŒs of Norway who, from one generation earlier, will never be duplicated. Even Emma's physical presentation, as shown on the enhanced CD's video of "Gamen" adds to the effect Garmarna creates. She might be Urda, risen to advise Odin on how to avoid G¿tterdammerung, or a valkyrja appearing to a warrior in anticipation of his death and ride to Valhalla.

Garm (Garmarna means, literally, "The Garms") is the hound at the gates of hel, whose baying is one of the portents of Ragnar¿k, the doom of the gods. Perhaps the Fenris wolf will break free on Garmarna's next CD, bringing down Odin and moving the universe one step closer to a new reality. Hopefully skipping Christianity and capitalism this time!

Garmarna's growth over the course of three albums, from 1994's Vittrad to this disc, released in 1999, is amazing. Starting off as a simple folk/rock outfit, Garmarna has, to paraphrase the words of one band member, evolved from a folk band into something else. That something else includes rollicking electronic grooves and an aural soundscape that was only hinted at on previous efforts by this Swedish outfit.
The album gets off to a heavy start with Gamen. It then crashes to a halt into the Pre-Medieval Industrial groove of Euchari, originally a hymn penned by abbess Hildergard von Bingen in the middle ages.
Another track of note includes the dark bloody title track, both eerie and unnerving at the same time, with lyrics (though sung in Swedish, the English lyrics are included) about murder, drinking blood and wild beasts. Of course, this is typical of Garmarna's lyrical fare. Only here the music really provides the appropriate backdrop to the disturbing traditional tunes.
As a whole, the album loses its intensity as the disc wears on, but don't let this keep you from getting into other wonderful tracks such as Herr Holkin, Polska (the one tune closest to their previous work) or Sorgsen Ton.
I would like to hear more rootsy stuff but this is a great disc nonetheless. It would be nice to hear an album that combined the best of their early folk work with the electronica of this album. One can only hope. In the meantime, immerse yourself in the world of Garmarna -- you won't regret it.

This is an AMAZING cd. Garmarna fuse sonic noise with quiet Swedish folksong in a way I would not have imagined possible. The fusion of techno and folk often seems to lack emotion, often merely adding an akward beat to a folk tune or a traditional element to a techno track. Garmarna has joined them seemlessly and created music that is furious in its emotion. The songs are often dark and the swirling combination of keyboards, fiddle and distorted guitar sounds like a dark Wagnerian rave. The title track hits hard. The vocals are quiet and gentle amid the turgid chaos of the band. Imagine Enya singing a duet with Rage Against the Machine, but a million times better. This is absolutely wonderful and innovative stuff. Truly a masterpiece.

First off, a couple of disappointments: the lyrics were provided in English, but not in Swedish, or Norse, or whatever the hell they speak up there. Obviously, I am not going to be able to make sense of that language, since I don't even know what it is, but I really like to be able to associate the sound with the printed word, and if a side-by-side translation is available, so much the better.

Secondly, a couple of the tracks are neither intense nor exquisite. Mind you that's maybe one track and a couple of passages out of ten, which leaves...

8+ tracks of extremely intense, exquisite, violent, bloody, beautiful folk music set to contemporary rhythms with layers of synth and danceable motions and haunting melodies and frightening lyrics and wow. This is good stuff.

I occasionally think, while listening to it, that this is the kind of music that Sinead O'Connor might have made if she wasn't an ego obsessed celebrity hunter. Except she would have done it to Irish music, as she now and then did.

The thing kicks off with Gamen/Vulture probably the most electropop on the album, but it alone is worth the price of the disc. Long about track 8 (Blaeck/Ink) is a piece that you should listen to once -- then guess at the subject matter of the piece -- and then listen to again, with the lyrics in hand. Unless you know Norse, or Swedish, or whatever it is up there, this is a delightfully unlikely juxtaposition of music and text.

All in all: this is a tremendously fun album, and I am putting the other Garmarna discs on my wishlist.

Who cares if you can't speak Swedish? You'll have no trouble feeling the ancient stories and deep emotional resonance of this exceptional, splendid, wonderful CD. I'm an unabashed fan.

From the heart-pounding opening track to the off-kilter rhythms of "Stomped Bread" to the lushly evocative tone of "Herr Holkin", "Vengeance" presents a beautifully rounded portrait by musicians who successfully bridge some of the oldest poetry around (including a stop in the 11th century to scoop up Hildegard von Bingen's spare verse) with modern instrumentation. This is not easy listening music, by any means. The drums are tribal, the rhythms industrial, and the direct, clear voice of Emma Hardelin drives all of it with a beauty that is fierce, but never harsh. Please make room in your collection for this CD!

I was watching TV a couple of months ago, and I turned to a channel that was showing music videos from around the world. The last video that they showed that night was Gamen. The fiddle at the beginning sparked my interest, but a couple seconds later when the beat kicked in, I sat bolt upright in my chair. Now that I've got the album, I can tell you that this album is like nothing else you will ever hear in your life. Traditional Scandinavian folk songs, played with a mix of traditional and modern instrumentation. It totally blows me away from start to finish. I don't normally even like music with the stereotypical "electronica" feel (not that this is electronica, but it contains elements), but this album grabbed my attention and won't let go. It is flawless. Buy it. Now.

Garmarna proves that they're as good as any Scandinavian folk-rock act around today. In many ways, this CD brings the band down the same evolutionary path that Kokko and Vihma did for Varttina, and down the same path that Hedningarna has always followed -- bringing their dark ballads from Sweden's past and mixing them with very modern beats and synth samples. This is an extremely exciting way to mix old music and new, and any fan of Varttina or Hedningarna will find a lot on this CD to sink their teeth into. ^_^

Miko