Metal Monday CCXCIII - Vittar

5/4/2020

Well, I didn't feel up to posting an update and that's okay. I do this because I love to and want to and if I make it feel obligatory it takes some of the sweetness and fire from it. However, thanks to a metal pen pal called Jarak, that fire was stoked and rekindled.
Today, we have Skogen. The swedish black metal group named after the woods from where they hail, I was reminded of them by my fellow metal enthusiast. I had previously put the album Eld on my wishlist but had forgotten. I was drawn to it when the cover art called to me with its northern tones and blackened atmosphere. I clicked play on a track without thinking and began skimming the store page of the album Vittar. It was within the description, as the showcase track for this week wailed into existence, that I knew this was to be in my collection. It spoke of DRUDKH and WODENSTHRONE in reference and I was immediately hooked. Two of my favorite artists mentioned in tones and similarities!? You bet your sweet ass I'm listening. And, here we are!
Now, my Swedish is awful and Google translate can only help me so much so there isn't a lot lyrically I can offer without diving into translations yet the one I did include did not disappoint. Of course, listening to Vittar in entirety is enough for you to understand the haunting and nature thronged tones woven within, offering a journey of an album that is wondrous and dark.
Now, the showcase track may be Ur mörkret hon kommer but I must add that this album offers a split depending on what you may be seeking. Höst, Skymning, and Slutet are there for your instrumental needs but there are many of those moments strewn between the long tracks harboring inside such as Skuggorna kallar and Under fullmånens sken. Now, there are ten tracks which means this singular album boasts a heavy amount of content and replayability. Mighty string work and thunderous drums will summon you to the woods and mountains, awaiting to embolden and rouse your spirit. I slept on this album and then I literally slept to the album (yes, I can sleep while listening to metal) so I know this album is a wonder on its own with a grand power lurking to be unleashed.
Not sure how I keep missing such gems but I am super grateful to have found it and have been listening to it for days while playing Mordhau and ESO. So, task yourself with a project or run, put on those headphones, and dial this bad boy to eleven because your soul within yearns for this dark, earthborn melody. Here's to finding Skogen and to one hell of a metal monday! /,,/
https://skogensweden.bandcamp.com/album/vittra

Ur mörkret hon kommer
Jag vandrar en väg, bland mylla och snår
Mitt i naturens sköte
I mörkrets näste, hon står och ser på
Och kallar på mig för ett möte

Jag vänder mig om och går dit in
En obskyr uppenbarelse
Hon suktar efter själen min
En diabolisk förförelse

Ur mörkret hon kommer
Tar min själ
Sakta förtvina i hennes famn
Ingen ska någonsin finna mig

I en glänta i skogen
Hon kan komma uppenbara sig
Och kalla på dig för ett möte
Trollbinda dig och för dig bort

Ur mörkret hon kommer
Tar din själ
Sakta förtvina i hennes famn
Ingen ska någonsin finna digUr mörkret hon kommer

Out of the darkness she comes
I walk a road, among
the mills and lanes
In the midst of nature's care
In the nest of darkness, she stands
watching
And call me for a meeting

I turn around and go in there
An obscure revelation
She sighs for my soul
A diabolical seduction

Out of the darkness she comes
Takes my soul
Slowly despair in her arms
No one will ever find me

In a glade in the forest
She can come to light
And call you for a meeting
Enchant you and lead you away

Out of the darkness she comes
Takes your soul
Slowly despair in her arms
No one will ever find youOut of the darkness she comesOut of the darkness she comes

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THE MAD BARRON

QUOTES I ADMIRE
"A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." - from the Wilderness Act, 1964

"I owe my solitude to other people." - ALAN WATTS

“I think I could turn and live with the animals, they are so placid and self contained;
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition;
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
Not one is dissatisfied-not one is demented with the mania of owning things;
Not one kneels to another, nor his kind that lived thousands of years ago;
Not one is responsible or industrious over the whole earth.”
― Walt Whitman

"In the ancient world, people placed heavy stones on the graves of the dead so their souls would not wander and inflict the living. I always thought this was simply the practice of superstitious and primitive people. But I was about to learn that the dead can hover on the edge of our vision with the density and luminosity of mist, and their claim on the earth can be as legitimate and tenacious as our own."

- Dave Robicheaux (In The Electric Mist With Confederate Dead)