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I was asked if I listen to other genres than metal. My reply was "I like the occasional non-metal album, but as for liking entire other genres, not really. Metal, taken as a whole, contains so much variety that I never feel I'm missing out on anything." On Vetterkult, Vetter mastermind (and sole member) Håvard Tveito takes much of the variety I like and crams it into one single album. He successfully applies a fiercely Norwegian black metal filter to everything from sludgy bass-driven dirges ("Brennoffer"), very noisy soundscape/orchestral pieces ("Over Havet", "Stenklang"), and even an epic folk song ("Peters Vise"). That he manages to work such diversity into a cohesive statement is no less than remarkable.
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| Brattefoss, Norway. Photo by Asbjørn Hansen. |
The two cardinal works on Vetterkult are "Brattefoss" and the closing title track. Both uses a tension-release technique usually associated with post-metal (without sounding anything like it), as droning avant-garde black metal morphs into something else. In "Brattefoss"' case blackened Sabbathian doom, in "Vetterkult"'s walls of epic riffing that ends the album on a triumphant note.
The merry Lurkers writes that Vetterkult "achieves the impossible dream of uniting ancient tradition with fiercely modern metal". They also mentions that the album mey be need to be given a few chances before it falls into place. I agree and suggest you get started as soon as possible, the player is right below...
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]