Album Review: Nordverg - Багровый рассвет

 

Artist: Nordverg (Russia)
Album Title: Багровый рассвет ("Crimson Dawn")
Record Label: Stygian Crypt Productions (Russia)
Released: 2011
Purchased From: The Omega Order

At first glance, there's nothing particularly promising about Crimson Dawn, the debut album of Russia's Nordverg.  The artwork, while by no means bad, is pretty generic Viking metal boilerplate.  And the name Nordverg sounds pretty generic as well.  I'm not even certain that "nordverg" is even a proper word.  It seems to me that the name they were going for was "Nordberg," but, if that's true, I'm kind of glad they didn't go with that one, because Nordberg is the name of O.J. Simpson's character in the Naked Gun films and I'm just not sure I could ever get past that.

Crimson Dawn is published by Stygian Crypt Productions, which is arguably best known for the Folkearth and Folkodia CD's they keep shoving out the door.  This may put some people off.  However, Stygian Crypt has also released great albums by Amber Tears, Heorot, and Leshak, and a lot of their CD's have really nice etchings on the silver side of the disc (like Heorot, Leshak, and Fferyllt), though unfortunately Crimson Dawn doesn't have any etchings (I checked).  There's not much we can tell for sure about this band by the packaging, which is standard Viking fare.  However, what's important is the music, and Nordverg, while not original in any respect, have crafted a pretty fine piece of Viking-themed folk metal with their debut album.

The first track of the CD, which is a folk instrumental, is not surprising in the least, except perhaps by how well-done it is.  Arkona's Vladimir Reshetnikov (playing various "ethnic instruments"), viola player Diana Timoshenko, and bagpipe player Alexander Starkov appear in the intro and elsewhere on Crimson Dawn, giving it a nice bit of authenticity.  True, there's nothing here that we haven't heard before, but they do a nice job.

The band itself is a five piece, consisting of three guitarists, a bass-guitarist, and a drummer.  Two of the guitarists and the bass-guitarist are also vocalists.  I'm not sure why the band needs three guitarists, except perhaps to be able to replicate the music better in a live setting (allowing one to switch to acoustic guitar while the other two are handling the lead and rhythm... but then again what do I know about playing guitar?).  The instrumental section is fine, with a nice focus on the lead guitar and folkish melodies.  There are some interesting acoustic breaks here and there, often accompanied by one or more folk instruments.  The guitar riffs tend to be jaunty and catchy, reminding me at times of their fellow countrymen Noman's Land.  The clean vocals sometimes remind me of Noman's Land as well, though most times they are delivered in more of a plain, folk style, rather than the proud, bardic sound they take on in other parts of the album.  There are growls as well, which are well-done.  Production is clean and crisp, allowing all the instruments and voices to be enjoyed comfortably.

The lyrics are all in Russian, which is a plus for me because I love the sound of the Russian language, though I can understand so very little of it.  The songwriting is rather simple, for the most part, but the songs never overstay their welcome and are pretty catchy.  Some songs even show the amount of depth that one would expect from some of the top Russian pagan metal bands, like Svarga or Rarog.  The lead guitar melodies are often quite enjoyable, and I really like the variety in vocals.  All in all, I can't really find any fault with Nordverg's debut CD.  It's fun and lively, not too heavy, but nicely balanced and refreshingly folky.  Some songs are simpler and more shallow than others, but there's nothing here that sticks out as filler.

I bought the CD mainly because I'm obsessed with this kind of music and I rarely pass up a find.  To be honest, because of generic packaging and band name, I wasn't expecting much more than amateurish Viking-themed metal with weak production.  What I found, instead, is a very competent band that has crafted a great debut album.  While it's true that Nordverg isn't really doing anything unique here, and those who are burned out by folk or Viking-themed metal will probably want to pass on it, I can easily recommend Crimson Dawn as a non-essential but quite worthwhile addition to a pagan metal fan's collection.