BATHORY: NORDLAND II (2003)
1) Fanfare; 2) Blooded Shore;
3) Sea Wolf; 4) Vinland; 5) The Land; 6) Death And Resurrection Of A Northern
Son; 7) The Messenger; 8) Flash Of The Silver Hammer; 9) The Wheel Of Sun.
Considering how much time — around five minutes
altogether — ʽThe Wheel Of Sunʼ requires to go through with its massive coda, one
might have thought that Nordland II
was not only designed to be the last Nordland
installment, but was actually to be the last Bathory album ever, that last big
fat chord after which Quorthon could finally retire, or remove his presence
from this Christianity-soiled earth altogether. Which he actually did around
June 7, 2004, allegedly dying of heart failure — so very impatient to finally
honor that Valhalla reservation.
In reality, though, Quorthon himself had stated
that there were to be four Nordland albums, and a third one was
already in the works when misfortune fell. And, indeed, other than the grand
coda to ʽWheel Of Sunʼ, there is nothing on Nordland II to suggest intentional account closure. Quite on the
contrary, it sounds a wee bit disappointing as a follow-up to Nordland I: obviously, one could not
expect any major stylistic changes, but a minor twist or two would have been
nice. The only minor twist I see here is that the ultra-heavy, «industrial
metal» vibe of Nordland I has all
but disappeared, and that, consequently, the second volume made one small step
away from brutal heaviness and towards «artsiness» — a tiny step that will
make it seem a bit more visionary to some fans and a bit more boring to others.
The «fanfare» sequence that opens the album is
a good illustration: three and a half minutes of stern icy synth-pomp — for my
tastes, this stuff is way too crudely composed and produced to be emotionally
engaging, but there will always be some Bathory fans ready to see it as a Grand
Opening of the Gates to Ancient Scandinavian Consciousness. Thereupon, ʽBlooded
Shoreʼ is a stately one-riff march, full of predictably martial solemnity, but
it is neither heavy enough to properly wake up my inner Viking, nor
perfectionistic-majestic enough to disturb that old Wagnerian temptation. The
song, and most of the other ones that follow, is worthy of a sleepwalking Quorthon,
not so much a Quorthon ambitious to prove that he is able to go beyond the
confines of Hammerheart while
playing by the rules of Hammerheart.
In fact, the album is surprisingly mild and
slow all the way through to ʽDeath And Resurrection Of A Northern Sonʼ, where
the old thrash instinct finally awakens and starts generating truly thunderous
riffage: too bad that the «thunderous» sections of the song occupy less than
half of its ten-minute duration. The major highlight comes a little later, in
the form of the shortest song on the album: ʽFlash Of The Silver Hammerʼ (Paul
McCartney and Maxwell dropped by to say hello, no doubt) is the first, if not
the only, number to dispense with the stately majesty and simply bash it out in
a «take-no-prisoners, show-no-mercy» style — none too soon, actually, or you
might start wondering whether Quorthon really began to mellow out in his last
years.
He did not, but overall, Nordland II is hardly an achievement to brag about: if the
remaining two albums were to show the same quality, my guess is that the man
would be running a serious risk of running out of fans before the saga was
over, except for the usual bunch of diehards who would be happy enough if their
idol released an entire album of minimal variations on ʽThe Hall Of The
Mountain Kingʼ. The only saving grace of the album is the man's commitment to
his mission, and clear understanding of his own role in it — but it is well
nigh impossible for music like this to run on commitment alone: would it have
hurt too much to add some emotional
variety and a slightly larger number of
memorable riffs? As of today, only Odin knows the answer.
Check "Nordland II" (CD) on Amazon
Check "Norland II" (MP3) on Amazon
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