Mini-Reviews: Vintersorg – Jordpuls/Orkan
The last time this happened to me was way back with Blind Guardian’s Imaginations From The Other Side. I’d put the record on and consider it a good album, nothing more. Then, a subsequent spin would leave me much more impressed. This would continue until I absolutely loved the record. The sad thing is; it would reset every time I stopped.
So, while I was a huge fan of Vintersorg’s first three releases, I lost interest when Cosmic Genesis came out. Now, I quite like it, but then I was disappointed. The next two albums were not really my thing and the following one was a step in the right direction. Next would be Jordpuls (Pulse of the Earth) and again, I liked the 2011 version of Vintersorg but I never found myself putting it on. Until now, that is.
Several months after Jordpuls’ successor came out, I went back to this album and have been loving it ever since. I can’t say it hearkens back to the excellence of Ödemarkens Son but it’s new, fresh and phenomenal. Bouncing between the folk influence to the wonderful raspy vocals, I loved hearing his trademark vocal style, catchy riffs and having that familiar Vintersorg sound.
A year after Jordpuls we were treated to Orkan (Hurricane). Again, this took a few months to warm up to, but now, almost half a year later, I cannot stop listening to it!!! It’s got everything Jordpuls did but with catchier riffs, more memorable melodies and choruses. The vocals are powerful, the mix is spectacular and it’s one of those records where when it ends, I want to put it back on again. I cannot find a single weak point on the record. It’s excellent through-and-through.
Now, I’d already talked about Borknagar’s Urd and with it being a bit of a weak year, that may have been my Album Of The Year until I started up with Orkan. If not, Vintersorg himself may be on two of my top albums of the year, something that has never happened before. Ultimately, I’m loving these two Vintersorg records, something my Last.fm profile can verify! I haven’t listened to this much of the band since 2001. And to think…there are two more records of this planned four-album concept to come!