Reviews:

From Judas Kiss: (by Lee Powell)

  If you have any interest whatsoever in the post–industrial scene, then the name Henrik Nordvargr Björkk will no doubt be one that you’re more than familiar with, whether it be because of his legendary black industrial group MZ.412 or one of his many other projects including Folkstorm, Toroidh and HH9 amongst others. Or perhaps it’s because of his impressive genre-spanning collaborative releases with Arditi, Merzbow and Goat, or even because of his huge catalogue of solo work, which has seen him experiment with a massive range of styles and genres whist keeping one foot firmly planted within the realms of industrial music. With such a huge catalogue of releases, it’s a wonder that Henrik still manages to produce recordings of any great interest or quality, yet time and time again, whichever guise he chooses to record under, he somehow manages to maintain a constantly high level of quality, which is more than exemplified by this harrowingly pitch-black excursion into the soul of malevolent dark ambience.

  Based somewhat confusingly on the old Swedish folk tale/mythology of Pyrrhula or ‘doomlord’, this eight-track album sees Lord Nordvargr deliver a hugely impressive palette of immensely dark and crushing dark ambient compositions, complexly constructed with minute layers of sounds, washes of noise and echoes, manipulated drones, tolling chimes, distorted vocals, spectral choirs and distant spoken-word samples which intermingle into one another to create an engulfing cacophony of powerful otherworldly black ambience that is as enticing as it is alienating.

  As a listener, you instantly want to explore the harrowing dark recesses of Pyrrhula, but as you delve deeper and deeper into its shadowed world and come face to face with its dense, unrelenting darkness, your instincts are to turn and run. But there is something almost hypnotic and compelling that makes you stand fast, and instead of turning tail and fleeing you have the urge to explore further into Pyrrhula’s majestically malevolent soundscapes and presence.

  I have to admit that I’m a little stumped with the origins of this album’s inspiration, the Pyrrhula or ‘doomlord’. A quick search in good old Google doesn’t shed any light (or darkness, if you will) on the mythology of the doomlord, but instead gives a whole swath of information on the Pyrrhula, or Bullfinch as it’s more commonly known, with no mention of any Swedish folklore to be found. Confused? I know I was, but then looking at the skeletal, mummified bird corpse that adorns the album’s front over and the bullfinch that sits atop of the text ‘Beware the small creatures of light, they only bring misery and death upon the enlightened ones. For they will paint their breast with blood and reap your unborn angels’, perhaps Nordvargr knows something we don’t about this old folk tale or perhaps he’s attempting to invent his own through the album. Either way, it doesn’t really matter, as the harrowingly engulfing black ambient compositions here are more than capable of holding the listener steadfast with or without the use of folklore, fictional or not, to fill them out.

  Utilising the very darkest droned noises and soundscapes, there’s a fair similarity in sound and aesthetic to the legendary occultist dark ambient duo Endvra, which gives an indication as to the benighted power and drive Pyrrhula possesses and delivers with its multilayered sound sculptures.

  With such a gigantic catalogue of material available, which must play second fiddle only to that of Merzbow, it’s always a very pleasant surprise when Nordvargr produces work of this calibre, but yet again the Dark Lord has delivered the goods in the style which only he really can, and in doing so has produced one of the dark ambient genre’s truly essential releases in the form of Bullfinch, err, sorry, Pyrrhula.

From Musique Machine: (by Roger Batty)

  With it’s mixture of grim and dark ambience, bleak drone expanses, doom /slowed blacked metal tone & funeral industrial rhythms Pyrrhula builds a highly effective soundtrack for a dead, barren and grim world of endless darkness.

  The tracks are built around a mixture of grim and barren drone emissions, stretched out and suffocating blacked doom guitar fogs, occasional grey splatters of creepy and evil sounding vocalising that’s half black metal and half grimly theatrically, ritual to slowed industrial beat patterns and the general air of decaying dread and hopelessness. The albums is roughly based around the Swedish folk tale of a doom lord and it does often bring to mind a towering being of unimaginable darkness moving across a husk of a world destroy all life that’s left, literally sucking hope and life force into it’s huge form; growing darker, taller and more powerful with each life. With the eerier and grim cover artwork nicely heightening this feeling with pictures of dead dried up animal corpses. Really this is one of the most pitch black slice of sonics your come across this year.

  I’ll have to admit in the past I’ve been rather unimpressed by Nordvargr’s work find it’s atmosphere rather hollow and unrewarding, but Pyrrhula has certainly changed my mind. It’s a grim and pitch black masterpiece with each track simmering with such a great prime evil and dread filled air that’s sure to curdle and sour even the brightest atmosphere. (5/5)

From Filth Forge: (by Simon V.)

  Like every year, hyper-prolific Nordvargr doesn't fail to submerge us with new releases, the latest being "Pyrrhula", conceived under the flags of Cold Spring. It's a collection of "black ambient / drone works" composed between 2007 and 2008 and centred around the topic of the "Pyrrhula", a sort of bad omen bird or doom lord, very popular in the ancient Swedish folklore. The eight tracks of the album show mr. Björkk waving an impeccable dark ambient in the tradition of the Cold Meat school, far from the noisy edges of Mz.412 and Folkstorm.

  The solemn and catacomb-like atmospheres of "Pyrrhula Two" and of final "Stripped Of All My Loyalty I Serve", the subterranean miasma of "Hascimh Reborn", with echoing cave vocals, and the heavy industrial thuds of "Tordön" don't miss the target and will surely satisfy the supporters of the Swedish giant, as well as of the Norse school's deadly sound.

From Side-Line: (by DP)

  The new album from the Swedish lord of darkness aka Nordvargr (known for his numerous projects like MZ4.12, Folkstorm ao) is based on the Swedish ‘Doomlord’ mythology. Musical wise we’re entering a pure doom-universe. Humming sounds from the depths of the earth are emerging to the surface and are floating over a vision of eternal night. It’s like some kind of monster moaning, haunting dark dungeons and other sonic corridors. The sound of “Pyrrhula” is a remarkable kind of soundtrack style for an imaginary horror vision. Hard drones like thunder are coming out the speakers while dark humming sonic manipulations give you the impression of a nearby apocalyptic vision. And when you think that the heaviest visions of fear are right behind you the tormenting screams of “Hascimh Reborn” are right in front of you. It sounds like the call of the evil and brings you into a new exploration of your deepest feelings of angst and stupor. Henrik Nordvargr Björkk has launched a solid piece of terrific dark and doom ambient! According to me it’s one of his best releases to date!

From Ascension: (by Alex Daniele)

  Il problema di Lord Nordvargr è la sua prolificità e, di conseguenza, la sua incapacità di darci il tempo di digerire e compenetrare il lavoro precedente. troppi lavori, quasi sempre mai brutti, ma anche poco efficaci nel lasciare un segno indelebile del proprio passaggio. Una marea di progetti paralleli (MZ412, Nordvargr, Beyond Sensorty Experience, Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk, Folkstorm...) ripartiti tra una fitta schiera di etichette indipendenti dedite al rumore (Cold Meat Industry, Cold Spring, Old Europa Cafe, label sudamericane e asiatiche...). Il problema di Nordvargr rimane questo: la sua prolificità. Troppa carne al fuoco e, spesso, poca diversificazione tra un progetto e l'altro. E' uno di quegli artisti che se cerchi di seguire in ogni sua uscita, finisci col perderti nel mezzo di un oceano sonico che sfinisce i padiglioni auricolari. Nordvargr è però anche bravo nel cavalcare il suo momento di grazia, nello riuscire sempre e comunque a sfornare produzioni che si ergono sopra la media degli altri progetti appartenenti a questo settore musicale. La verità probabilmente è una: l'oscurità in cui viaggiano le glaciali manipolazioni industriali ed ambient di Henrik non ha davvero una fine. "Pyrrhula", un concept-album ispirato d una vecchia leggenda svedese, è l'ennesima conferma delle infernali capacità manipolative di Lord Nordvargr. Le otto tracce che compongono questo album è sono la colonna sonora di una reale discesa negli inferi, un inquietante turbinio di sibili, tuoni, buchi sonici e sinfonie spezzate. Prolificità a parte, il sacerdote Nordvargr ha nuovamente celebrato in maniera lodevole il suo infinito cerimoniale oscuro.

From Obliveon: (by MK)

  Henrik Nordvargr Björk lebt offensichtlich auch im kreativen Überfluss, denn mit MZ.412, Folkstorm, Toroidh und Vargr hat er zusammen mit Nordvargr gleich fünf Projekte, die die musikalische Landschaft zwischen Power Elecronics, Industrial, Dark Ambient und Military Pop sowie eine ganze Szene entscheidend mitbeeinflussen. Mit Nordvargr und dem aktuellen Werk „Pyrrhula“ hat er sich düsteren Black Ambient-Soundscapes zugewandt, die an düsterer Kälte und schier undurchdringlicher Finsternis kaum zu überbieten sind. Geisterhafte Stimmen, okkult anmutendes Stimmengemurmel und rituelle Beschwörungsformeln sowie undefinierbare Geräusche bahnen sich immer wieder ihren Weg durch diese Dunkelheit, verstärken aber nur den Eindruck von Unbestimmtheit und einer undefinierbaren und kaum greifbaren Tiefe, die neben lähmendem Entsetzen auch eine gewisse Lethargie beim Hörer verursacht, sich dieser Düsterkeit entziehen zu können. So fressen sich diese acht Dronen in betörender Langsamkeit kompromisslos und unaufhörlich in das Unterbewusstsein des Hörers, der zum Ende des Albums erkennen muss, dass sich die Welt nach „Pyrrhula“ verändert hat. Ein absolut beklemmendes Werk.

From Darkroom: (by Michele Viali)

  Se non sbaglio per quest'anno Henryk Nordvargr Björkk giunge al suo quarto lavoro di lunga durata, e questo "Pyrrhula" esce quasi in contemporanea con "The Less You Know, The Better", il disco realizzato a sei mani per i tipi della Old Europa Cafe. L'iperproduttività del torvo svedesone non è una novità: è uno dei pochi artisti che riesce a permettersi questi ruolini di marcia incappando di rado in tracce noiose, pur mantenendosi costantemente aderente ai suoi standard sonori. Questo nuovo lavoro prende spunto dal racconto popolare svedese "Pyrrhula", ovvero "Doomlord", pur riallacciandosi nei suoni e nei temi alla tradizione black industrial (come fu definita da Karmanik) degli MZ 412. Gli otto movimenti del disco sono strutturati su droni cupissimi e gelidi che creano una dark ambient torbida e satanica, rinforzata da samples mortiferi e dalla voce catacombale di Henryk. Non ci sono novità rispetto ad altri lavori di Nordvargr, anzi, in questo caso viene ribadito il marchio di fabbrica, garantito da pezzi tanto piacevoli quanto - in alcune occasioni - prevedibili che toccano vertici di gran classe in "Pyrrhula One", strutturato su un tema lineare ossessivo con sferragliate metalliche e vocalizzi gutturali, nonché in "Hascimh Reborn", un pezzo che rende in musica l'effetto dei tanti caproni disegnati nelle copertine black metal. Memorabili sono anche le lente e fugaci sessioni ritmiche costruite su rumori campionati, finalizzate ad accresce il senso di asfissia sulfurea. Non privi di interesse rimangono gli inserimenti di chitarra elettrica e piatti in "Pyrrhula Two", con un effetto doom non lontano dagli esiti del recente lavoro "The Sacred Truth" a firma Ten Horned Beast. Henryk si riconferma un ottimo artigiano dell'elettronica, capace di sfornare lavori a gran velocità e tutti di buon livello: il suo è un sound industrial da catena di montaggio che non prevede errori e, in alcuni casi, si lascia andare a vezzi artistici, testimonianza della zampata di un maestro. Forse il miglior album che Nordvargr ha firmato in questo 2008.

From Mentenebre: (by Roberto G.)

  Recientemente pudimos reseñar en Mentenebre el álbum de Nordvargr llamado "Interstaller", el cual realmente nos dejó un poco insatisfechos y frios, cuyo dark-ambient rozaba las secuencias típicas del ambient clásico y de segunda fila. Sin embargo tal y como anunciamos en aquel entonces, Nordvargr ya tiene disco nuevo y en esta ocasión puedo ir adelantando que la diferencia es abismal, y allí donde la música no llamaba nada la atención, ahora se eleva a las máximas cumbres de este género.

  Podemos empezar recordando escuetamente que el artista detrás de este proyecto es el polifacético Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk, componente de otros tantos proyectos paralelos como Toroidh, MZ.412, Folkstorm, Varg y Naer Mataron, cada uno de ellos con sus propias particularidades y especialmente tan distintos unos de otros. En esta ocasión, tras publicar con Beast Of Prey, lo hace con otras de las grandes, Cold Spring Records. Nuevamente en la portada podemos (o más bien intuir) el nombre del proyecto con esas letras tan extrañas típicas del black o death metal (cosa que puede llevarnos a mal interpretaciones) y una especie de extraño pájaro muerto y casi disecado. ¿Y que significa este cadáver en portada? Pues como el propio nombre del disco indica, "Pyrrhula" es el nombre de una extraña ave que vive en peligro de extinción originaria de la isla de São Miguel (en las Azores). Aparte de esto, en lo que más se ha basado Nordvargr a la hora de crear este álbum es en un antiguo cuento sueco que hablaba acerca del viaje de este pájaro a lo más profundo de la Oscuridad. El CD, aparte de ser un regalo para los oídos amantes del buen dark-ambient de calidad, puede considerarse una edición especial y limitada tan solo para coleccionistas pues en su bajo numero de copias realizadas es donde reside su mayor potencial: tan sólo 100 copias disponibles.

  Comenzando a entrar en materia, ¿Qué es lo que hay en este álbum que me haya gustado por encima de otras cosas, incluido su anterior trabajo?. Yo creo que para mí la respuesta obvia e inminente es la parte lírica que contiene. No es lo mismo un dark-ambient que incluya pasajes de voz por aburrido que sea, que otro que simplemente se jacte de repetir minuto tras minuto los mismos sonidos emborronados y apagados. En "Pyrrhula", aunque en contadas ocasiones, existen estos pasajes de voz, recitados por el mismo Henrik, que siempre son gratificantes y ayudan a añadir un nivel más de complejidad en las texturas de los temas. Como segundo punto a su favor (y nuevamente en contraposición a "Interstaller") en esta ocasión se juega más con la percusión. Igualmente no significa que podamos escuchar marcados ritmos neo-clásicos o marciales, pero si bombos y otros sonidos percusivos de estos lentos y rituales que igualmente consiguen transformar un tema suficiente en otro notable. Por último, como parte positiva me llama muchísimo más en todo su conjunto la parte compositiva que en "Insterstaller". Donde en este eran prácticamente profundos colchones (pads) oscuros y graves con alguna que otra evolución y temas repetitivos y lentos, en esta ocasión el dark-ambient es mucho más personal y más elaborado.

  En total ocho tracks de los cuales me quedo con la macabra 'Another weeping doomlord lost' (siniestra entonación y las mencionadas partes líricas en su estado ritual más puro), el viaje al Averno de 'Pyrrhula One' (similar al anterior pero con un comienzo muy post-industrial por sus predominantes sonidos distorsionados y un desenlace más dark-ambient), la rítmica y percusiva 'Gordön' (donde el ambient más estridente se mezcla con llamativos golpes percusivos), y la orgía macabra de muerte de 'Pyrrhula Two' (que en ocasiones me recuerda a la música experimental de proyectos como Atrium Carceri).

  En definitivas cuentas un disco interesante por su carácter de edición limitada, y que supera en mucho a su antecesor. Parafraseando una clásica frase de la película Mulholland Drive: Éste es el disco

From Gothtronic: (by Fabian)

  Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, for lovers of extremely dark music needs no further introduction. Over the years he has made tons of records under various names and many labels. He’s at it again with an album on Cold Spring Records. An album filled with extremely dark black ambient songs, in which his metal roots are very much present. Yet he differs from most in the genre with his high quality productions and inventive sound structures. Overwhelming is not a word to be used mildly with this mans output.

  The artwork of this album looks like a combination of a dark industrial and a black metal album, especially because of the used fonts. The album itself deals with an old Swedish folktale, Pyrrhula, which translates something like ‘doomlord’. So, all the elements are there again for a pitch black evening.

   The album begins with ‘Another weeping doomlord lost’, were we hear some very eerie howls. On the background I hear a looped sample that makes me think of the opening sounds from the movie ‘INLAND EMPIRE’. There are also some unintelligible vocals added. Towards the end of the song there’s some drumming added. The song immediately sets the scene of things to come. Very dark indeed. The second track, ‘Pyrrhula one’, starts with some heavy drones. There’s also a sound that seems like sounds from an organ. Then some distorted guitar sounds are added, and the whole ambience gets very bleak. Pyrrhula has arrived, so it seems. Then comes ‘Inwards to salvation’, which sounds a little bit like something Beyond Sensory Experience could do. Dark drones with a somewhat spacey feel to it. Halfway through again some distorted guitar sounds are added, only this time not as upfront as the track before. With ‘Tordön’ we get some rhythm, which gets heavier as the song progresses. Sound like some kind of hell is opening up. It’s a rather short piece, so before you know it we’re in the next track, ‘Hascimh reborn’, were we are really in Hell. Added are the growling vocal of Nordvargr himself. Behind his vocals we here some screams of a woman in peril and very deep footsteps are coming towards us; this is darkness in its purest form. Then we go further with ‘Pyrrhula two’, were the guitar noise turns up again. Very satanic in its mood. Towards the end the song turns into a somewhat folk-ish sound for a while, before we are again in utter bleakness with some drones and samples. ‘Aryana of the open wound’ starts with very eerie whispering sounds. Also Nordvargr’s eerie vocals come into the mix, which work really well and are truly scary. We end the album with ‘Stripped of all but my loyalty I serve’, which starts with some choral samples to give it a very dark symphonic ambience. Then there’s also drumming added were it gets a real bombastic quality, very In Slaughter Natives like.

  This album delivers again in ultra heavy drones and very dark atmospheres. It’s also genuinely creepy in its sound structures, perfect for a night of utter darkness.

  Like I already said, the man needs no introduction, so people into Nordvargr know it’s again an essential release. And for lovers of dark music in general, highly recommended!

From Chain D.L.K.: (by Maurizio Pustianaz)

  Nordvargr is really active and his solo releases are more than the ones he did with his comrades under the MZ412 moniker. This new album is titled PYRRHULA and it is named after the small genus of passerine birds belonging to the finch family (and this is the reason why we have a mummified bird on the front cover) and it is also the name of an old Swedish folktale of the same name (and in this case its meaning is "doomlord"). Another hint about the themes covered, besides the titles of the eight tracks, is a phrase contained inside the booklet: "Beware the small creatures of light, they only bring misery and death upon the enlightened ones . For they will paint their breast with blood and reap your unborn angels". Fortunately Nordvargr musical hyperactivity didn't affect the quality of these recordings: despite the ambient/drone label the listener can wait for something more than the usual hummings/bass frequency noises. Tracks like the opening "Another weeping doomlord lost" or the following "Pyrrhula one" mix guitar drones, synth pads, growling vocals, organ sounds, keeping the tension level high sounding also various (the least it could be possible into this musical genre). There are also some moments where Nordvargr prefer to be true to the pure drones/dark ambient palette but the whole album doesn't and it has many creepy atmospheres and good sounds. (4/5)

From Alternativmusik: (by Marius)

  Das neue Album von Nordvargr, dem Projekt von Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, basiert zu Teilen auf einer schwedischen Volkserzählung und soll den Hörer in pechschwarze Abgründe ziehen, wobei der Name Pyrrhula für „Doomlord“ steht. Im Internet findet man unter diesem Suchbegriff die lateinische Bezeichnung für den Dompfaff, um den sich diese schwedische Sage bzw. Legende rankt. Dazu passend ist auch das CD-Cover, das einen skelletierten Vogel zeigt sowie auch das während des Albums auftretende Zitat, das von den kleinsten Kreaturen der Welt erzählt als Unheil bringenden Wesen erzählt. Auf einer Dreiviertelstunde Länge dreht sich das Album um eben diese Themen.

  Sehen wir jedoch mal von dem thematischen Hintergrund ab und widmen uns dem Wesentlichen – nämlich den auf Pyrrhula enthaltenen Klängen: Es vermengen sich sehr düsterer Ambient, Doom-Klänge und Industrial zu einem düsteren und verstörenden Klangerlebnis, das einen kaum loslässt. Dabei stimmt auch die Abwechslung und die einzelnen Lieder gehen zwischen einfachem Dröhnen hin zu rituellen und dann wieder zu noisigeren Klängen.

  Dabei erlebt man ein durchgehend verstörendes Gesamtbild, das nur diffuse Bilder im Kopf erweckt, die zwar nie konkret werden, aber dafür nebelige und Angst einflößende Ahnungen hinterlassen. Nach 45 Minuten ist der Horrortrip dann vorbei, lässt aber auch dann nicht richtig los. Das Album ist zwar vorbei, die Bilder aber bleiben…

From Obskure: (by Emmanuël)

  Avec les années et au fil de collaborations aussi multiples que remarquées, le Suédois Henrik Nordvargr Björkk s’est imposé en figure de la mouvance dark ambient / post-industrial, que ses travaux se maintiennent dans la production additionnelle (une masterisation et un apport musical récents pour Arditi, à titre d’exemple) ou dans l’implication artistique même, que cette dernière s’incarne en les sons black industrieux signés MZ. 412, toujours actifs contrairement à certaines rumeurs et à l’œuvre sur un nouvel album ; mais aussi en Pouppée Fabrikk, Folkstorm et Toroidh (projets focalisant davantage sur les thèmes de la guerre et l’Histoire), ou encore le plus BM Vargr… pour ne citer que ces projets-là.

  Pour tout dire, l’image que renvoie Nordvargr est moins celle d’un sataniste moderne, que celle d’un travailleur bigrement acharné, obéissant simplement à une pulsion continue et irrépressible. Le son DOIT sortir. Artisanat, forçat.

  Nordvargr, qui a compté pas moins de onze projets pour 2008 (dont un split avec Merzbow et trois albums solo dont ce "Pyrrhula"), c’est bel et bien le nom recouvrant une aptitude déconcertante : celle qui part du matériau son pour créer un décorum fait de froid, d’abstraction et dont l’allure générale, introspective certes, garde en fond une visée cinématographique.

  Voici donc, entre autres travaux signés Nordvargr et parus cette année 2008, une nouvelle bande-son de l’espace et du vide : "Pyrrhula – Black Ambient Droneworks 2.007 – 2.008".

  Peaufinés lors de l’hiver 2007 et l’été 2008, deux tableaux se superposent tout le long de cet essai que titre le nom d’un genre d’oiseau comportant sept espèces différentes, dont le Pyrrhula pyrrhula, de la famille des Fringillidés (soit, en français, le Bouvreuil Pivoine), le terme "Pyrrhula" recouvrant aussi une forme mythologique suédoise (le "Doomlord").

  Deux vérités, se croisant via l’album à mi-chemin entre nature et mythe, et deux substrats sonores en concurrence : une première couche, poussiéreuse, traduisant par de mouvantes et sourdes textures des visées climatiques type "drone". Epurées, elles laissent ci ou là apparaître, comme sous un calque, des reliefs sinueux et pénétrants. Ces formes découlent de jeux d’effets appliqués aux voix, des voix signées Nordvargr en personne et qui instillent un climat rituel et apocalyptique. Ainsi en attestent, par exemple, les intrigantes abysses de "Pyrrhula One". Elles parcourent un couloir venteux, auquel tentent de se raccrocher les voix des disparus, comme si elles désespéraient de nous prendre à témoins. Frémissement. Et si tout se jouait là ? Si, par cette image, Nordvargr capturait le mouvement et la présence d’entités que, dans notre dimension de matière, nous croisons à chaque seconde sans les apercevoir ?

  Peut-être. On se les imagine en tout cas, nous frôlant, criant à notre encontre et nous happant sans que nous ne les entendions ni ne les sentions. La musique de Nordvargr est de celles-là : elle fait se matérialiser des univers parallèles (les vagues vrombissantes de "Inwards to Salvation") ; espaces en lesquels se fixent nos appréhensions, nos peurs, ceux où notre imaginaire puise le noir pour en tacher le flot de nos projections mentales. En ces univers, tout peut arriver. Une rythmique étouffée et minimale croise le fer d’autres bruits et atteint l’irrépressible, en seulement quelques minutes ("Hascimh reborn"). "Pyrrhula", comme chacun des autres projets du Suédois, ne répond qu’à une projection mentale, avec toute l’imprévisibilité que le postulat suggère.

  L’oppression est latente. Elle diffère ses effets, prend son temps, comme une machination. Elle aura lieu lors de développements extensifs laissant place à de mortuaires cymbales, mais donnant aussi lieu à une présence inhabituelle des volumes de guitares ("Pyrrhula Two"). Ces dernières ouvrent la porte d’un Doom auquel la parenté Metal aurait été déniée, un Doom ambiant au sein duquel la pesanteur n’implique pas les éléments d’un songwriting classique (et duquel relève d’ailleurs, assez fréquemment, le Doom Metal) mais d’une expérimentation l’évacuant totalement, au contraire, pour privilégier la source "bruit". Une substance à laquelle s’ouvre toujours plus le catalogue de Cold Spring, constat inévitable suite à des sorties quelles que ce "Pyrrhula" ou le dernier EP du Skitliv de Maniac (ex-Mayhem).

  Nordvargr, lui, est dans cette quête intégrant le bruit. Il creuse, sculpte, cherche une ouverture sur l’ailleurs, l’inconnu. Cet ailleurs ne dit rien qui vaille, mais en termes de sensations, il promet beaucoup.

  Cette petite musique, c’est finalement un peu celle d’une boîte noire : une transcription de ce que personne n’a pu voir, de ce que nous aimerions savoir afin de prendre de nouveaux repères. Par sa nature même, la musique de Nordvargr est porteuse d’un mystère. Elle porte ailleurs, veut embrasser un indicible que l’on rapportera aux domaines du rêve.

From Dagheisha: (by Roberto Michieletto)

  Quando il fine ultimo del suono non è quello di veicolare emozioni dirette (qualunque sia la natura di esse e la loro capacità di risultare significative), ma quello di ricreare scenari musicali atti - a loro volta - a indurre sentimenti tali da impressionare a vari livelli l’ascoltatore, allora occorre verificare sino a che punto una simile operazione ha successo nel compiere il doppio step e quanto invece si limita a generare un sound che muore nel momento in cui non riesce a raggiungere chi lo dovrebbe recepire. Il che può accadere in svariati contesti sonori, ma è evidente che è più probabile che si verifichi laddove tali operazioni vengono messe in atto con maggiore frequenza, ovvero nel campo dell’industrial, sia esso ambientale o power noise. Nel caso di Nordvargr (di cui è sempre bene ricordare i trascorsi con MZ.412) e in particolare facendo riferimento al nuovo album, molto lo si intuisce dal titolo, poiché, al di là del riferimento alla leggenda popolare svedese ‘Pyrrhula’, ciò che per noi conta è che si tratta di otto composizioni, come recita il sottotitolo, registrate tra il 2007 e il 2008 e che indagano scenari black ambient orientati ai drone. E questo è ciò che si può sentire nell’album, però spesso accade quanto sopra ipotizzato, ovvero che l’eccessiva immobilità che caratterizza le tracce (chiaramente orientate al terrore psicologico e con un certo appeal alla SunnO))) fuori tempo massimo) diventi sinonimo di una mancanza di comunicatività tra le parti e così ci si ritrova con un lavoro che “produce tanto gioco, ma concretizza poco e finisce per perdere la partita”.

From Judas Kiss: (by Simon Collins)

  In the list of scary things to come out of Sweden, Henrik Nordvargr Björkk comes in at number three, right after Viking longships and bank holiday trips to Ikea, and Pyrrhula, his new release on Cold Spring Records finds Nordvargr in fine and fearsome form. (There’s also another new Nordvargr album, Interstellar, currently available from Polish label Beast Of Prey.) The Cold Spring press release for this album claims that Pyrrhula translates as ‘Doomlord’, and the album booklet states that “Pyrrhula is based on Swedish Doomlord mythology,” but a quick trip to Wikipedia reveals that Pyrrhula is the Latin name for the bullfinch family, there’s a dead bird on the album cover and a picture of what appears to be a brown bullfinch inside the booklet, so I'm not sure where the truth of this lies. Pyrrhula certainly sounds more like Latin than Swedish, but why Nordvargr would want to name his album after a bullfinch and then claim that it meant ‘Doomlord’, I really don’t know. Maybe he’s havin’ a larf?

  In any case, Pyrrhula offers the intrepid listener a 45-minute descent into a Nordic netherworld of hungry ghosts. As always with this prolific artist, the name this is released under offers the first clue as to how it’s going to sound – Nordvargr albums sound quite different from Vargr, Toroidh, Folkstorm, MZ.412 and Nordvargr’s many other projects and collaborations. Pyrrhula is also subtitled “Black Ambient Droneworks 2007-2008”, which tells you even more than the selection of the Nordvargr nom de guerre. But still, there’s no substitute for actually listening to the disc, so let’s do just that…

  ‘Another Weeping Doomlord Lost’ overlays pungent black atmospherics and turbulent, muffled beats with unearthly moans and cries, Nordvargr’s rasping vocals hacking a jagged path through the sonic undergrowth. So far, so unsettling. ‘Pyrrhula One’ is, at ten minutes, the longest track on the album, and its opening is actually quite mellow by Nordvargr standards, with a harmonium-like drone as thick and warm as a hearty Swedish dish of meatballs and dumplings (sorry, I’ve still got Ikea on the brain). As the tracks develops, though, this warm drone is overwhelmed by conflicting layers of ferocious sawtooth guitar and feedback. When I interviewed Nordvargr last summer, he said that he’d been picking up his guitar a lot – well, here are the results. Halfway through the track, the guitar dies back to make way for ritual invocations and a distant hand-bell, before the tracks’ final section of pure black ambient atmospherics, very much in the best traditions of Nordvargr, as well as similar projects such as Archon Satani and Sistrenatus.

  ‘Inwards To Salvation’ offers more of the brooding drones found in the first track, whereas ‘Tordön’ is based on thunderous beats. ‘Pyrrhula Two’ is another long track, with even more prominent guitar work than ‘Pyrrhula One’, with abrasive, clipped guitar drones and cymbal clashes bringing this piece firmly into the drone-rock territory of acts like Sunn0))) and TenHornedBeast. A hiatus around the four-minute mark allows whispered vocals in English and doom-laden piano to appear, before the guitar drone surges back like an exterminating storm. Nordvargr is such a prolific artist that I can’t be sure whether this is a new departure in his solo work, although it bears some resemblance to the track ‘Droning Hades’ on the Goatvargr collaboration. In any case, it’s great. ‘Aryana Of The Open Wound’ features prominent vocals in the form of open-throated, wordless groans, something like Mongolian throat-singing, or some of Chet Scott’s vocals for Ruhr Hunter. The final track, ‘Stripped Of All But My Loyalty I Serve’, has the kind of militaristic title that you’d be more likely to find on a Toroidh or Folkstorm album, yet its sound isn’t particularly martial, being composed of claustrophobic, eerie drones, cold industrial beats and abrupt bursts of choral chanting, with a definite tinge of that old Cold Meat Industry sound, along the lines of Atrium Carceri, Coph Nia et al, as well as, of course, Nordvargr’s own project MZ.412.

  So, Pyrrhula – doomlord or bullfinch? The jury’s still out on that one. But if it’s a bullfinch, it’s a raging bullfinch, that’s for sure. Nordvargr has several previous releases on Cold Spring to his name, including the widely acclaimed Partikel collaborations with Merzbow and the Goatvargr album mentioned earlier, but Pyrrhula is unadulterated, vintage Nordvargr and is to be considered an essential purchase for fans of this project.