Published on Oct 17, 2000
It is difficult, if not near impossible, to base an opinion on a
band after only hearing a few songs. I realize that part of my job
at “The Daily Vault” is to indeed make such opinions on demos that
are sent my way, but whether it’s a good or bad review, I often
think I’ve done a band an injustice by passing judgment on 10 or 15
minutes’ worth of music.
I kind of feel that way when I try to talk about Swedish death
metallers Amsvartnet and their four-song EP
The Trollish Mirror. On one hand, I hear the same grindcore
formula that has catapulted many bands out of obscurity in this
genre; on the other hand, I hear some things which are different to
this style of music. In the end, I’m left wanting to hear more…
and maybe that was their plan all along.
The band – vocalist Marcus Johansson, guitarists Jonathan
Holmgren and Daniel Nygaard, bassist Albin Johansson and drummer
Alfred Johansson – have the formula for this style of metal down
pat, though they nearly make a critical error to kick off this
disc. The first track, “The Trollish Mirror,” takes far too long to
get started; after about 30 seconds, I cranked up the volume just
to see if I was missing anything. There it was, faintly heard in
the background – the sound of wind. I honestly thought the CD was
defective, that’s how long the silence continued. Of course, once
the track got started, Amsvartner redeemed themselves with solid
musical performances.
There is one thing I hear in Amsvartner that doesn’t sound like
your typical grindcore – namely, the occasional presence of a
softer guitar line. Whether this is an acoustic or a regular ol’
electric guitar without 16 tons of distortion I don’t know, but it
provides an interesting “yin-yang” to the traditional
balls-to-the-wall approach of the music. Well done!
For 22 minutes,
The Trollish Mirror provides plenty of enjoyment for fans of
this genre. If you care to try and decipher what Marcus Johansson
is screaming, the lyrics are included in the liner notes (though he
is more clear in his delivery than others in this genre).
Naturally, only four songs doesn’t really give a great picture
of this band and their capabilities, though it does make the
listener want to hear more from them. Somehow, I don’t think that
will be a hard request to fill, as Amsvartner does a brief, but
impressive, job on
The Trollish Mirror.