Manegarm
Dodsfard

November 2003
Released: 2003, Displeased
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: JP

Viking Metal at it’s finest. Sadly this is my first experience with Manegarm but DODSFARD (meaning Death Journey ) is the band third CD and it has made me a fan.



Following a brief intro with the sound of waves on the shore and an adaptation of a traditional piece the band launch into 10 tracks of extremely accomplished Viking metal.

The subtle touches of atmosphere add to what is generally pummeling album. In fact tracks like ‘Ravenous’ have very little northern or Celtic influence at all but then the band follow it up with a far more Viking sound with violin and an alternate vocal delivery.



Great production and a gorgeous cover just add the to appeal of this band. The cover depicts a Viking funeral and is stunning. I don’t speak Swedish and so the lyrics are foreign to me, unfortunately. The lyrics of the two English cuts, ‘Ravenous’ and ‘Pagan War’ are both decent. The song ‘Fimbultrollet’ is a lyrical adaptation of a traditional story but again it’s meaning and impact are lost on me.



All the tunes are short and relatively fast interspersed with atmospheric touches, violins, acoustic guitar, some male chanting and so on. This makes for a diverse and fun listening experience. Not too flowery… these are truly songs of death with lots of double kick driving the fast parts along. The great vocal delivery in these short, sharp songs reminds at times of LG-Petrov but only occasionally, mostly during the death ‘n’ roll vibe parts of some cuts. There is quite a bit of this type of stuff out there and this is among the better that I have heard.