CoC : Vondur - Stridsyfirlysing : Review

Vondur - _Stridsyfirlysing_
(Necropolis/Sepulture Prod., 1995)
by: Gino Filicetti (7 out of 10)

This album probably wouldn't have scored as high as it did if it hadn't been in my CD player for as long as it has. Vondur is a two-man side project comprised of Ophthalamia's IT (guitars/bass/vox) and ALL (vox). Most of the music contained on this CD is very fast and very aggressive, WAR METAL, as the band is fond of describing themselves. Actually, the album's title means "Declaration of War" in Icelandic, the language that this entire album's lyrics are written in (even though Vondur are Swedish). The start of the album is signalled by a trumpet blast and the beating of drums over which is spoken an Icelandic speech. Next comes a quick transition to Vondur's fast and furious music. Guitars are not played with the utmost skill here, especially when they are played fast enough to become pure distortion. Drumming is taken care of by the trusty drum machine, thereby eliminating any power the drums could've possessed. But, I still liked this album. There are many surprises here, some of which are the sad, depressive piano number played by Alexandra (IT's main squeeze I suppose), or the two-minute song composed of the sound of a fire raging or the final track, "Hofoing, Satan", which is a symphonic track of ultimate beauty.

(article published 10/5/1996)

ALBUMS
9/1/1998	P Azevedo	2	Vondur - The Galactic Rock n' Roll Empire