Vansköpun "Alsæla Gegnum Endurfæðingu"

I discovered this band as a recommendation from a member of Ignifer. And what a great recommendation. So after i streamed the track "Alsæla Gegnum Endurfæðingu" over and over and over on their Bandcamp, i really got curious to hear the rest. So i bought the tape. It's good to see that tapes are back on the map. Just the other day i saw on the news about a portuguese company that, in their glory days, used to supply big part of Europe. They are still going nowadays, not with the same workflow they had some years ago but.. they are still running. But the main thing is that tapes are cheaper than CDs and they are this little nostalgic time machines that make me travel back in time. And i like the sound that comes out of that dark brown tape. One thing that really stood out of this EP is in fact the sound. In this specific case, it's excellent. No wonder this was produced by Kark (from Dødsengel) at the Kark Mastering studio.

Although the format might be ancient, Vansköpun’s black metal is modern. There’s a hint of Swedish orthodox Black Metal to be found here with a lot of suicidal tendencies added to the mix with horror and death. "Alsæla Gegnum Endurfæðingu" EP consists of three tracks; “Genesis 6:17″, which could be put down as an intro as it clocks in at little under three minutes compared to the eight minute mark the two full tracks, “Botnlaust Tómið Hungrar” and “Alsæla Gegnum Endurfæðingu”, seem to be going for. The approach that Vansköpun make to their black metal is really interesting, although i would like to hear more, these three tracks can basically give you an idea of what they are here for. Mixing variations on from slow-mid-fast, the whole environment on the songs is inert, dense and hypnotic. Perhaps suffering from that "First Demo Syndrome" at some points we might find some stagnant points, but it doesn't seem fair to judge that from only three tracks from the band. In short, it's a good and one of the "freshest"  releases i've heard so far this year. Let's wait and see what might emerge from the shadows of Iceland. Buy it here (great guys to deal with, and tons of awesome releases). Recommended.

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