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| Self-released, 1995 |
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
