The Focusing Blur
[Napalm Records]

Ah, finally the new Vintersorg record has arrived; he has been talking about it on his Website since spring of last year (2003). Vintersorg has been making a steady progression away from his folk roots since his debut MCD Hedniskhjärtad in 1998. And The Focusing Blur continues that journey more than any other release so far. Vintersorg's new sound is an odd mix of progressive and, well, astral is the only way that I can describe it. As far as I know, there are no other bands presently with a sound quite like Vintersorg. His lyrical themes are fitting for his sound as well, dealing with the nature of the cosmos and everything unexplained within them. I guess one could compare him to Borknagar, considering he is part of that band now too, but I think his sound is on a whole different level and when you hear it you'll understand what I mean.

The music itself is wonderfully complex, due in part to Steve Digiorgio's fretless bass, Asgeir Mickelson's drumming, and of course, Vintersorg's masterful use of atmosphere from both his keyboards and his guitars. Mattias Marklund should get some credit as well for helping Vintersorg with all of the composition. One other thing to mention is that Vintersorg's vocals are rarely that deep sound he made his mark with on previous albums. It is still noticeable at times, but for the most part he sings the clean vocal parts in a much higher tone.

Now, for my only real gripe about the whole album. Vintersorg's first 3 recordings were exclusively in his native Swedish tongue, with the past two records adding English into the mix for about a third to half of the songs. I can understand that he wants to do some songs in English if only to become somewhat more accessible to many who have never heard his music before. I suppose an argument could be made that it is easier to be successful doing songs in English. But it's not as though Vintersorg isn't adept, his knowledge of the English language seems to be just fine. Regretfully though, he has abandoned entirely any use of Swedish in his lyrics on The Focusing Blur. Maybe it's just me, but on the last two records, Visions From The Spiral Generator, and Cosmic Genesis, the best songs have all been in Swedish. Anyway, it's a minor gripe, considering that all of the songs on this English only record are up to par with all that he has done previously.

Oh, and at times I miss Vintersorg's old style blend of folk, medieval, and black metal, but the new sound that he is achieving is certainly nothing that has been done before, and is still very much an interesting journey that he is taking us on.