Ildjarn – Ildjarn Reissue (Season of Mist/Underground Activists)
Sunday, 22nd September 2013
Our own Josh Overbey quipped to DR that it “seems antithetical” for a band like Norway’s Ildjarn to have their own Facebook page. He’s right – since when was it okay in the Black Metal Rulebook for a 666% necro, no-fun, no-family, no-future outfit to engage in social media? Did they get clearance from Euronymous from the beyond? Maybe everyday in the world of Ildjarn is opposite of opposites day; you know, doing what shouldn’t be done is actually the right thing to do.
Druthers out of the way, this self-titled re-release is of the band’s 1995 effort, which happens to be recorded on the same 4-track Ihsahn and Samoth used in the Thou Shall Suffer days. There’s the necro! Now, using the same recording device two indisputable black metal legends employed doesn’t immediately cast fairy sprinkles and magic dust on the songs…or even the quality for that matter. Actually, “sound quality” is a term we’ll have to use loosely, for Ildjarn (who is basically one man: Vidar “Ildjarn” Vaaer ) is the embodiment of a crappy and lo-fi basement recording, the kind that gets poked fun at relentlessly. Regardless, the songs are remedial Norwegian black metal, with the typical scales getting rammed up against a constant drum pitter-patter that if we want to make any loose comparisons, sound like Darkthrone on a hazy Saturday.
Black metal history has only cast Ildjarn as a sideman to the bigger acts; a sort of pawn in the bigger picture of monumental albums, arson, and murder. Based on the quality of Ildjarn and the rest of the reissues in this batch, it’s no wonder why. Rather insignificant stuff.
