CoC : Kvist - For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike : Review

Kvist - _For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike_
(Avantgarde, 1996)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)

This is the debut album from yet another Norwegian black metal band. These guys have a typical sound, sounding in places (especially in the opening cut "Ars Manifestia") very similar to Emperor (see CoC #1). The production here is decent, as everything is audible, including bass and bass drums (unlike Emperor). However, the vocals are a bit low, and the whole thing sounds a little "fuzzy". The vocals are standard fare, but a little monotonous, sounding at times half-spoken and half-whispered. There are only 6 songs, and the album lasts for about 37 minutes, so the compositions are fairly long and involved. However, the songwriting could be improved, as the song structures don't always make complete sense to me, or really go anywhere. The playing is solid and at times pretty interesting. They throw in enough good ideas to make up for their lack of originality, and that makes this worthwhile. They use keyboards, though low in the mix, and have a variety of tones, including strings and a pipe organ tone, similar in effect to Gehenna's _First Spell_. The packaging is very sparse, with no band information, and no lyrics (which are sung in Norwegian). A worthy offering worth getting, but not essential.

(article published 12/8/1996)