Reviewed - 02/07/05

Kraft
[Candlelight/Tabu]

While I enjoy modern, death-inflected black metal, I practically gave up on that whole early 90's black metal movement when most of the bands who created it gave up on it (or ended up in jail). While I still hold albums by the likes of Burzum and Emperor as some of the best metal albums of all time, the bands that attempt to hold true to the scene that those leaders long ago abandoned are mostly pathetic. These days, "grim/true" black metal usually amounts to little more than elitist, image-obsessed bands hiding their glaring lack of talent behind noisy, thin, treble-intensive production as they spout pretentious, trite lyrics about satanism, hate, and shitting in the woods. While there are a few exceptions, the overwhelming majority is pure shit. So, when people heralded Windir, I ignored them. I'd already wasted way too much time and money on bands of that nature. When Windir broke up after the death of vocalist Valfar, the remaining members formed a new band called Vreid and, again, I felt compelled to ignore them. I didn't feel like getting burned again. Luckily, I got sent a promo of Kraft, Vreid's debut or I might have missed out on a great band.

I'll admit, not only is this a really good black metal album but this also makes me want to look into Windir. Not only does Vreid capture that early 90's BM feel, but they also manage to go beyond it and do their own thing. This doesn't feel like shallow Emperor/Burzum/Mayhem/etc worship in the slightest. In fact, I get the feeling that Vreid is actually reaching back into the same pool of 80's influences that the Norwegian 90's scene did as opposed to trying to recreate the "church burning" sound verbatim. I am reminded more of the very early recordings of that particular scene if only they had modern production, clearer focus, and superior songwriting skills. The songs are well written and surprisingly memorable in a way that feels very 80's to me while still having the extremity and darkness of the early 90's. Yes, there's some folk influence blended in, but without all that pretension that bugs me about so many other bands with folk influences.

The few really good bands in this style often kill themselves with bad production, but Vreid is a definite exception to that. While the production is very good, it's still got a lot of shrillness and "genuine black metal" atmosphere to it. This is further proof that there is no excuse for sloppy production no matter what effect you are going for. The atmospheric benefits of dirty, lo-fi production can all still be achieved without having to actually go lo-fi. In addition to gaining that atmosphere, you also get the benefits of putting your bass player to actual use and not giving your listeners a fucking headache. It's just a matter of taking pride in your craft (or Kraft, in this case) instead of hiding behind your scene. Vreid doesn't need to hide behind anything. They sound good and they write good songs. While most of you who are into this style of music already know about them, I plead with those of you who, like me, have developed an enormous contempt for this style of music: do not ignore Vreid. This is good metal - period.