Striborg - Ghostwoodlands
Striborg, or rather, the other name for a man who already works under another name, Sin Nanna, has created another fine album of work called Ghostwoodlands. There are not as many tracks on this recording as there are on albums such as Nefaria: A Tragic Journey Towards the Light, Trepidation, or Mysterious Semblance, but what it lacks in track quantity it more than makes up for in melancholic metal composition. I know that Striborg is hard to categorize (part of the point of his work I think) and the CD’s second track, “Wandering The Wilderness Of Eternal Misery” is just the type of song that exemplifies Sin Nanna’s style. One, the title itself could only be created by Striborg. I don’t know why, but my experience with the heaviest and darkest music forms has put me in contact with some major talent internationally who have created excellent sounds and awesome song names, but there is something about the diction chosen for his track names that could have only been put together by him.
Now, and we need to step back from the album a few figurative feet and look at its structure as a whole. It is amazing. This is why I specifically mentioned the composition of the album, the creation of an album, not of tracks, but of an album as a whole and unified object. This is sometimes done with musicians in all genres of music. Mark Knopfler, Aphex Twin (I think Drukqs is specifically an album that is put together, ironically, to exhibit unstable mental health and schizophrenia), and of course that irritation of a band, The Beatles (sorry to step on the toes of all you Beatles listeners out there, but Son of a F^#king etc etc, get a life, accept their death, and move on). Striborg opens the CD with this awesome keyboard work that is straight out a Hammer film or Last Man on Earth. It’s great. Then the album picks up with speedy black metal style drums and Sin Nanna’s unique guitar buzz. The next to last track, the title track, begins the album closedown with fast guitars that break up toward the end amidst more keyboard action and then are dropped altogether in the final track, “Descending Into Utter Despair,” where the keyboard and synth playing eases us into the night. Sleepy bells chime along with the keyboard sounds and one can almost feel the curtains closing over a funeral.
Now, and we need to step back from the album a few figurative feet and look at its structure as a whole. It is amazing. This is why I specifically mentioned the composition of the album, the creation of an album, not of tracks, but of an album as a whole and unified object. This is sometimes done with musicians in all genres of music. Mark Knopfler, Aphex Twin (I think Drukqs is specifically an album that is put together, ironically, to exhibit unstable mental health and schizophrenia), and of course that irritation of a band, The Beatles (sorry to step on the toes of all you Beatles listeners out there, but Son of a F^#king etc etc, get a life, accept their death, and move on). Striborg opens the CD with this awesome keyboard work that is straight out a Hammer film or Last Man on Earth. It’s great. Then the album picks up with speedy black metal style drums and Sin Nanna’s unique guitar buzz. The next to last track, the title track, begins the album closedown with fast guitars that break up toward the end amidst more keyboard action and then are dropped altogether in the final track, “Descending Into Utter Despair,” where the keyboard and synth playing eases us into the night. Sleepy bells chime along with the keyboard sounds and one can almost feel the curtains closing over a funeral.
1. Bete Noirs
2. Wandering The Wilderness Of Eternal Misery
3. Light Anomalies In The Phantom Woods
4. With Animosity I Bequeath Thee
5. Sinister Scraping Of The Spectres
6. Ghostwoodlands
7. Descending Into Utter Despair
2. Wandering The Wilderness Of Eternal Misery
3. Light Anomalies In The Phantom Woods
4. With Animosity I Bequeath Thee
5. Sinister Scraping Of The Spectres
6. Ghostwoodlands
7. Descending Into Utter Despair
Displeased Records
Reviewer: Jesse
Feb 26, 2009
Feb 26, 2009
Next review:
Striborg - Journey Of A Misanthrope (DVD)
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