### Windir: Arntor

#### 29/01/10 || Smalley

Okay, so in the past 6 fucken years of Global Dominating, no Windir albums have been reviewed? Unfortunately, yes, and I think it’s about damn time GD payed its respects to Valfar and gave his great band some coverage! Why do I want to give this defunct, rather-obscure group a write-up, instead of leaving them to gather dust on the scrap pile of metal history, you ask? Because, they managed to accomplish something special in their short time together, by creating a bridge between the very different sensibilities of folk and black metal, and more importantly, doing it well. I wish they could’ve stayed together and kept on making music until they got old and grey (or until their egos got too big), but still, I’m thankful for the four very satisfying albums they did manage to make, of which, “Arntor” is the cream of the crop.

So confident was frontman Valfar in his creativity, that the opening track of the album, “Byrjing” (“The beginning”), contains no metal whatsoever; instead, it’s simply three minutes of a keyboard and several accordions playing gently around one another. Fortunately, Valfar took no inspiration from Weird Al on this one, instead, infusing each instrument with a sense of hopeful optimism, a great note to start the album out on.

On the other hand, the note that the following song, “Arntor, ein warrior” (“Arntor, a warrior”), strikes is very different, coming on with a surprisingly violent energy at first (owing a lot to Valfar’s screamed, pure-black metal vocals), but the soaring clean vocals by Steinarson and an excellent acoustic/keyboard interlude help to take some of the edge off, a bit of honey to off-set all the vinegar. But, the most important thing to remember here is how Valfar could write strong, emotionally-potent music regardless of what tone he used; violent or calm, it all sounds good on “Arntor”.

Having to follow that, “Kong hydnes haug” (“The burial mound of king hydnes”) is a bit of a disappointment, despite having some very nice keyboard work & clean singing, but “Svartesmeden og lundamyrstrollet (“The blacksmith and the troll of lundamyri”) knocks me on my ass again with its incredible emotional urgency; even though all the lyrics on the album are in a Norwegian dialect I don’t understand (and those bums at the Metal Archives still haven’t translated them), I still know exactly what Valfar was going for here just by listening to the instruments. Just an incredible song, and one of the best ones Windir ever made.

And, while none of the remaining tracks on “Arntor” manage to top that high point, all of ‘em are still pretty good, with extra kudos going to the celebratory, sing-song “Kampen” (“The struggle”), which makes me wanna grab a beer stein and drunkenly sing in some medieval tavern every time I hear it. Throughout every track on “Arntor”, Valfar shows a uncanny sense of direction in the murky, genre-combining waters he was sailing, never giving us too much black or folk metal, but maintaining a delicate balance between both, serving up a tasty, well-blended treat overall.

One thing that particularly stands out as a strength is how natural the record sounds, very refreshing in our current metal environment; the bass sounds the way a bass should, the guitars have none of that compressed-to-hell, over-processed, Greg Fidelman shit we’re suffering through, and the drums have a nice, basic “thud” going on. Basically, all the instruments sound like they were altered as little as possible, a decision that pays off handsomely, and through all the ways I’ve mentioned in this review and more, “Arntor” remains a powerful, memorable album to this day. Until my next Windir review (and there will be a next one), rest in peace, Valfar – you did damn good.

- Information
- Released: 1999
- Label: Head Not Found
- Website: www.windir.no
- Band
- Valfar: harsh vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, accordion
- Steingrim: drums
- Steinarson: clean vocals

- Tracklist
- 01. Byrjing
- 02. Arntor, Ein Windir
- 03. Kong Hydnes Haug
- 04. Svartesmeden Og Lundamyrstrollet
- 05. Kampen
- 06. Saknet
- 07. Ending