Sidereal Fortress - Vette Inquiete

Heimat Der Katastrophe, 2018

Deh, spiriti miei, quando mi vedete
con tanta pena, come non mandate
fuor della mente parole adornate
di pianto, dolorose e sbigottite?

Hailing from the Italian landscapes of Florence was Sidereal Fortress. A project that brought forth an impressive discography and, sadly, ceased to exist this very year. Gone, but not forgotten, as Vette Inquiete has unveiled itself to be an effort I’ll happily revisit from this day on.

In 40 minutes' time, Sidereal Fortress paints a landscape that echoes a fictional, medieval Italy; a sight that can be as sunny and welcoming, as it is dark and dangerous. Narratively, the album speaks volumes by gracefully diving into dark and oppressive ambiances, yet giving just enough light and warmth to guide us along. The best example of this might be the mesmerizing, foreboding, and personal favorite, ‘Castrum Vetus’. Starting off as one of the album’s most sinister tunes, it beautifully opens up at the end, shifting tone severely for a brief moment, only to once more surround the listener by darkness.

Vette Inquiete’s biggest threat is how easy it is to hum along with its melodies. Do not mistake this accessibility for simplicity, because the record hosts a pleasantly layered complexity. Rather, see it as an unexpected adventure in a familiar dungeon.

TL;DR: While in its core foreboding, Vette Inquiete offers a wide palette of flavours through which it gracefully shifts as it pleases.

Sidereal Fortress on Bandcamp | Heimat Der Katastrophe on Bandcamp

INTERVIEW: Utred

Gothic

There is joy and love to be found in the works of Utred. They’re spontaneous, adventurous, and to me personally, one of the highlights of the current scene. With the bombastic and light-hearted Gothic in the background, I sat down with its creator to discuss his creative output.

First of all, congratulations on your latest record! While your previous efforts are amongst some of my favorites, I do feel that Gothic has pushed your creative capabilities immensely. It’s catchy, mesmerizing and all-in-all such an exciting ride. How did these four songs come into existence, and what do they mean to you as the author?

Thank you so much. I’ve put a lot of work into this album. The first idea was to compose a long track, based on the organ timbres of my synthesizer, and without repetitions, so it would flow in the same way as you would tell a story. The second track follows this concept, but with harpsichord timbres. The two short tracks at the end aim to make the album lighter. "Helmet" is a reminiscence of the first album Citadel, and "Chalice" is kind of an experimental track, with new tones and a delicate arrangement. So, in the end, we have this upward structure throughout the album, in an effort to recreate Gothic architecture in sound.

I love the idea of recreating physical architecture throughout the ungraspable medium that is sound. Where does your fascination with Gothic architecture come from? Is it very present throughout Moscow?

Mostly it comes from books and films since we don't have much Gothic architecture in Moscow, just a few cathedrals. The architecture does have a tight connection with scholasticism, which is my second inspiration for the album. I found out about this theological school when I was forced to study philosophy for postgraduate studies and was fascinated by the originality of its ideas.

Knowing that you’re from Russia, I’m probably wrong, but does Utred refer to the Swedish verb utreda, meaning “to investigate”? And even if not, do you see your work with Utred as some sort of investigation?

Wow, I didn't know that. We do have many artifacts of medieval Swedish expansion in the burial mounds over here though, especially in the region of Smolensk, where my mother was born. When speaking about any original form of art, "to investigate" is absolutely the right expression. And yes, I am incredibly passionate about investigating new musical landscapes.

I’ve got to be honest. My first encounter with Utred was thanks to the Toto cover “Africa”. I immediately ordered Tribute I + II on cassette and even though I’ve heard those songs many, many times, they still manage to put a smile on my face. What drove you to create these fantastic covers - and why these particular songs?

I asked myself the question: “Would I be able to play some beloved rock songs on my lonely synthesizer, with a fully painted palette and in the vein of the Dungeon Synth genre?” The choosing of songs was simple since they contain my favorite melodies, and I like them very much. "Africa" was recorded especially for my friend Anton from the project Raevjager, he is absolutely mad about this song.

It’s one of my favorites as well!
What does the future hold for Utred? Can we expect new themes, or will we dive further into what you’ve already dug into?

The future plan is to publish remastered versions of all albums (except Gothic) and to record a new one next year. I wouldn't like to tell any details, so a little intrigue still exists.

The final words are all yours!

Thank you very much for this interview. I wish everybody to be healthy and prosperous, to love and to be loved. Stay true at any cost.

Utred on Bandcamp

Fiendish Imp - Fiendish Imp

Dunkelheit Produktionen, 2018

“She is large and I am small -- but

Oh! How I dance and prance ‘round all!

And though she's queen

How I will glean

Her only child as I'd foreseen”

To wager with the mischievous might be one of our most exciting activities. Tricksters are charming creatures, not only by presence, but mainly because they’ve always given us the idea that we could outsmart them. We could out riddle the troll on the bridge, trick Mephisto in his own game, wrangle the ring from Gollum’s fingers, or guess Rumpelstiltskin’s name. These creatures offer us an exciting gamble. And we'll probably lose, but there’s always a chance. Isn’t there?

Fiendish Imp fully taps into this mischievous atmosphere. Its melodies are quirky but carry a weight that doesn’t become clear until we’ve reached the latter part of the record. Within 18 minutes it slowly transforms its airy and playful attitude to a much more serious and foreboding one, successfully mirroring old folklore in the process. This subtle switch of attitude - and the rather short playtime - really encourages repeated listens. To be honest, I’ve been returning to this little devil since its release in October 2018.

It saddens me to say that the Imp has outsmarted me. 

I’ve fallen under its spell and signed my name.

TL;DR: A captivating and malevolent effort.

Fiendish Imp on Bandcamp | Fiendish Imp on Facebook

Shy Knight - Shy Knight

Self-released, 2019

“This is not only about him,
this is about all of us.”

Some knights are brave, others are villainess - and then there’s Shy Knight; a tiny man in armor, tumbling down dungeons. It’s not particularly reserved in a stylish way, rather, its aura borders on nervous timidity; a character that only gets enhanced by the use of what’s seemingly one single synth sound.

What I like the most about Shy Knight is its inability to fully finish melodies. Somewhere near the end they kind of fall apart, like a sentence that just doesn’t really hit home. Combining this with a slightly lo-fi sound makes this debut such an adorably naive effort that I can only hope that this is all intentional - because it's either that, or I’m just reading into it way too much!

And hey, I know. Being in dungeons can be stressful. The lack of sunshine and fresh air sometimes really gets to you. The solitude and dampness don’t particularly train your social skills, nor does it give you a healthy dose of self-reflection. Shy Knight is an honest depiction of listening to too much doots and suddenly setting foot in the outside world, after what might have been an eternity downstairs.

TL;DR: Simplistic, quirky and charming.

Shy Knight on Bandcamp

Trolltjern ‎- Hymner Fra Trolltjern

Self-released, 1995

"Eg høyrde vindsuset kalle meg
Oppi fjellet oppi fjellet
Den tok meg vekk i fra folksom gard
Oppi fjellet oppi fjellet"

20 Minutes of music is enough to wander deep into Norwegian forests. It is enough to get lost in the fog, with only a sporadic appearing moon for guidance. It is enough to expect to hear another's footsteps getting nearer any moment - yet it never happens. We are alone, cold, and surrounded by the sparsely colored and vivid imagery of untouched Northern landscapes.

There’s this beauty in tape hiss. It stretches far beyond mere conventional aesthetics and manages to carry and ascend music through its gentle waves. Combined with Hymner Fra Trolltjern’s subtle melodies, spoken words and wind samples, it continuously paints pictures that have a pleasing similarity with the cassette’s artwork, and extends the experience the music alone already offers.

Honestly, why isn’t there more of this? With a burgeoning scene, releasing material frantically, it baffles me that there is so little material that harkens back to the atmosphere Trolltjern already introduced back in 1995. Don’t get me wrong; this is no plea to produce similar sounds, since I love the genre's current diversity. It’s just that Hymner Fra Trolltjern is so incredibly convincing that I find it difficult to believe it’s not a much broader embraced influence.

TL;DR: Oldschool but extraordinary refreshing.

Trolltjern on Youtube