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“Sóknardalr” is the first album from the legendary Norwegian black metal band Windir. Even though this is not their best LP, its melodic folkish black metal is highly entertaining and well done enough to appeal your ears for a while. The trademark of Windir is already shown in this their debut full-length album. In spite of including folk elements in a “separate” way inside the music, as other bands usually do when they alternate both styles, Windir incorporated folk melodies into their set of songs in a sensitive way, blending them perfectly with their metal, and it gained rapidly a good base of fans from the very beginning due to this special brand of metal music. Windir´s strong ability to create effective melodies is the outstanding highlight of the album (and discography). Take for example the seventh track “Likbør”, what an overwhelming, awesome tune in its conception, guitars carve the notes in your veins with an unique mixture of feeling and rawness. Windir´s mastermind Valfar knew how to make it all with his solemn voice and his tremendous composing skills. Moreover, on the lyrical side Windir must have been one of the few Norwegian black metal bands away from concepts as Satanism, darkness, forests and viking mythology; lyrics deal with traditions and historical events from the Norsk village of Sogndal. To reinforce the subject, the language used was a dialect called Sognamaol which is spoken in that region. In fact, the will of defend minorities and folklore has a reflect on the side of the CD case, where there´s a statement against bokmål (“official” Norwegian language) and supporting nynorsk (the popular tongue). Quite original, all in all! This is one of the best melodic black metal bands on Earth, in my opinion. All hail Windir.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Sognariket Sine Krigarar |
| 2. Det Som Var Haukareid |
| 3. Mørket Sin Fyrste |
| 4. Sognariket Si Herskarinne |
| 5. I Ei Krystallnatt |
| 6. Røvhaugane |
| 7. Likbør |
| 8. Sóknardalr |
: 47.56
| Buy other Windir albums |
