Published on Aug 21, 2001
Väsen has somewhat of a reputation among fans of acoustic
traditional music. After repeated appearances on public radio,
including being featured on
A Prairie Home Companion, they’ve developed a following for
their music. It’s no wonder, really whatever else you might say
about Väsen, they’re intense. The quartet of Olov Johansson,
Mikael Marin, Roger Tallroth, and André Ferrari plays with
an almost frightening precision on their third US CD,
Gront.
For the fans of traditional music, Väsen can be daunting.
Swedish traditional music almost but not quite sounds like most
other Northern European forms, but it has a distinct nature all its
own, woven somewhere in the details. Imagine Irish minor key
harmonies as interpreted by a composer from
Hearts Of Space, and you’d be close but only close, not spot
on. The alien notes of the music are multiplied by Tallroth’s
variant tuning on his guitar (A-D-A-D-A-D for you music geeks out
there) and Johansson’s mastery of his chosen instrument, the
nyckelharpa, or keyed violin. It sounds close to, but in the end
utterly unlike, anything you’ve heard before unless, of course,
you’re from Sweden.
“So,” I hear the DV Faithful saying, “is it any good?” The
answer is yes. Väsen is damned talented, a lot of fun to
listen to in a plaintive sort of way, and
Gront maintains its level of intensity all the way through.
This CD demands you pay attention to it; it’s not background music,
and the musical curves it throws someone not well versed in this
meter and harmony keeps you guessing, and keeps you enthralled.
Tracks of note include “The Pikeman”, which demands you get up
and dance; the opening “Ploska”; Väsen’s take on a traditional
reel “Reel Carrowkeel”; “The Mushroomman”, with its almost Oriental
harmonies; and the title track “The Grontman”, which for being all
acoustic sounds frighteningly industrial. It’s meant to capture the
spirit of a creature from Swedish mythology of immense size and
power, and it works.
Väsen will take some work for almost everyone to
appreciate. But it’s worth it; the skill, power, and conviction of
these four musicians keeps a musical tradition alive and
vibrant.