RockBox - [Request] Windir Studio Discography (HQ)

[Request] Windir Studio Discography (HQ)

Studio Discography
1997 - 2003 in 320kbs

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In This torrent

Sóknardalr
1997

Sóknardalr review (8.6/10) wrote:

Originally I was not going to give this a good review for one chief reason: it's needlessly idiotic the way Valfar shouts, "Yeeeeehaa!" in a number of the songs, like it's some sort of fucking barefoot knee-slapping hoedown. I tend to grimace at the suggestion of any Americanization within Viking or otherwise Scandinavian metal. This, on the other hand, just made me wince like my balls were getting stepped on! Fortunately, it is only a temporary musical backslide, and in the long run, is darkly overshadowed by the proficiency and majesty of the rest of the melodies.

That having been said, the music on this recording is dominant and powerful, with some moments of traditional power metal, but much greater is the dominance of the majesty of Nordic black metal and Viking themes. The instrumentation is varied, also incorporating several vocal styles: Valfar's death vocals are excellently rendered, his clean vocals are sufficiently in tune, and there are also female guest vocals amply applied throughout the album. Keyboards are used as well, mostly enhancing the mystical feel overall, but in a few places sound smothered and poorly mixed, such as in "Sognariket Sine Krigarar" and "Mørket Sin Fyrste", sounding like a mono post-record gone wrong. After that, the drums are fairly well-mixed, sounding crisp, so it shows off the precision, but not overpowering, so as to cut off the guitar work, from where that great black metal sound comes.

One of the melodic highlights of this album comes from "Sognariket si Herskarinne", featuring very majestic guitarwork, both in the black metal style and from acoustic guitar. One drawback here is that during the black metal passages, the bass guitar is mixed rather strongly, but since the bass guitar is playing the tonic in this key, it fortunately doesn't take too much away from the overall melody. Still, it could've been mixed lower without harming the composition of the tune.

The work is very consistent among all of the tunes and shows Valfar to be a very competent musician with a lot of potential. The production overall is not too bad; it's more or less on par with what you'd expect from a low-budget project. This is by no means intended to be a slur against black metal; meaning quite the opposite, a lot of talent is found there. The Head Not Found label has a real bright spot on their reputation for having released this album.

Arntor
1998

Arntor review (9.8/10) wrote:

This was the first ever Windir album that I heard. Although it was only a few months ago, it took mere days to fall in love with this album. First, Valfar does an excellent performance mixing the classic growls with a style of clean singing, bringing a certain folk element into this album, much like the style of Isengard. The melody and clarity of the guitars in this album is probably at it's height in the song "Kampen (The Struggle)" The drums are almost always a constant impact, both with more atmospheric parts to classic brutal blasts. The guitar riffs have an unmatched range of slower and faster breakdowns, many taking place in the same song along together. Windir never fail to impress, and it's a terrible shame that Valfar died and the band broke up due to the loss of it's founder. For a first time Windir listener, I urge anyone who hasn't already to go and check this out, if you want variation, it's promised in this epic album. The only downside is that I can't understand the lyrics.

1184
2001

1184 review (9.5/10) wrote:

Windir was a band of incredible talent, one of the best black metal bands to have surfaced in the late nineties. This band was formed by a young man by the name of Terje Bakken, better known as Valfar. Valfar was a man of pride. He had great pride in his country, and he wanted to let that be known. Windir in short, fuses black metal with folk music. While the concept on paper seems like it would not work, this could not be any farther from the truth.

The music is quite distinctive, sounding like raw black metal, enhanced with folk, which is calculated perfectly. The songs are fast paced and vicious, with some of the best vocals I've heard in black metal. There are many keyboard preludes into folk passages, where session vocalist Cosmocrator chants. The title track is probably the best example of this. It starts off very fast paced, and then breaks off into a slow keyboard passage that sounds very sinister, and then proceeds back to a fast tempo. Most of the songs follow this pattern in some form of another. There is much speed with chaotic nature to be found on here, namely on the tracks Black New Age and Dance Of The Mortal Lust. The basic instruments are done well, but the keyboards provide a lot of the structure. There are also many atmospheric moments to be found, namely in the end of the track Journey To The End. There seems to be a little something for fans of all genres of extreme metal to be found on here in some form or another. The lyrics, all written by Valfar, are mainly about fantasy, myth, ancient tales, and misanthropy.

This album is easily my favorite of the four Windir albums, although they are all quite good. I would recommend this to any fan of black metal. It's too unfortunate that Valfar had to die at such an early age. Buy this album at all costs, that is, if you can even find it.

Likferd
2003

Likferd review (8.6/10) wrote:

Valfar’s last battle has been the one he fought against the storm on that tragic day of January 2004 – but that one, he lost it. Couldn’t it then look bitterly ironical that what ended up being the last Windir album had been entitled Likferd (burial)? Just as if Valfar had foreseen almost twelve months before the events of 2004 there wouldn’t be another one, ever.

Of course Likferd isn’t another 1184, what doesn’t mean it’s weaker, but simply a bit less accessible to the layman. No more accordions, less synths and keyboards, a more discrete presence of Cosmocrator and his “epic” clean vocals, a return to a majority of tracks sung in Norwegian: everything sounds as if Valfar had been afraid to lean towards a more commercial approach of Viking metal and was wishing to return to his more black-ish roots. However a more in-depth look would quickly reveal it’s far from being the case, as for instance on the four Windir albums this one is probably exhibiting the cleanest production; what of course doesn’t mean it sounds crystal-clear but simply denser, deeper – and better. The bass resounds, vocals as well as drums are mixed a tad down when compared to 1184, what isn’t unpleasant as it enables the listener to concentrate on the superb, both thick and raspy guitars which most of time occupy the front of the scene. And of course the crowning catchy touch is added by both the cold-as-ice backing orchestral keyboards, and Cosmocrator’s exalted clean chant which might sound ridicule and over-the-top to some, but has been nonetheless an essential component of Windir’s latest sound.

All of the above wouldn’t however suffice to make a great album if the songwriting wouldn’t follow. Granted, there’s undoubtedly a couple of easy songs here, and that may be the only reason why I’d rank Likferd a tiny step below its predecessor. The opening track especially, though being the standard Windir high-paced raging anthem fully fulfilling his quota of screams and blastbeats, doesn’t bring anything revolutionary, and in any case doesn’t live up to the following tunes. In the same genre the third track Despot simply works better with its huge epic break going on par with more subtle bridges. The same could be said about Blodssvik: coming right after Despot, it looks a tad pale.

Because Valfar isn’t ever as good as when he flirts with epic extravagance, I’d quote as evidence the long and complex Fagning and Aetti Mørkna where he’s eventually able to display all his genius both as a composer and a musician. Fagning especially can easily stand for the best track with its storming intro, majestic ending and heavily guitar-driven verses balanced by both softer and faster, more keyboard-oriented breaks. Everything being topped by an important part devoted to lead guitars, which once again shows the Windir guys not only knew how to perfectly build a grandiose atmosphere devoid of any cheese or pomp, but also how to play their instruments.

Not to say the only worthwhile tracks are the longest. Paradoxically what is by far the simplest track of all is also one of the best: Martyrium will be probably rendered immortal by its unforgettable lead melody and neverending double bass which blend into an epic breath which would incite even an 80-years-old bed-ridden to rise and go to battle. Less catchy at first glance and more subtle, On the Mountain of Goats is remarkable for its slow, freezing middle part, maybe the most BM-influenced of the whole album. Eventually Dauden is the shortest but certainly not the less lively tune here, in any case maybe the most reminding of 1184 – even if it lacks the accordion.

Valfar’s death may have been a great loss to every black/Viking metal lover. However, first the way he died hasn’t been unworthy of a true Viking warrior, secondly (and more importantly) he died at the pinnacle of his glory, after having released what will probably remain another Viking classic for years. One is all but sure the hypothetic following albums would have been equally strong; so like the old man on the left of the cover let’s just take a posture of sad, but quiet, resignation.

Members
Terje "Valfar" Bakken - Vocals, Accordion
Jørn "Steingrim" Holen - Drums
Stian "Strom" Bakketeig - Guitars
Jarle "Hváll" Kvåle - Bass
Gaute "Righ" Refsnes - Keyboards

Quote:

Windir (Warrior in English) was a folkloric black metal band from Sogndal, Norway. The band combined black metal with Norwegian folk music and mythology. The band was formed in 1994, and released its debut album in 1997. Windir was a project of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Terje "Valfar" Bakken.

Windir produced four albums in their almost ten years of existence, each more complex and successful than the last. The band broke up when Valfar died of hypothermia amidst the hills of Sogndal on January 14, 2004.

Many of Windir's lyrics are written in the local dialect Sognamål.

Viking/Folk

Black

320 k

445.25 MB

36 files

03/08/2009

Seed(s): 1, Leecher(s): 0 = 1 Peer(s)

11/06/2026 17:13:46