By the late 1990s, black metal scenes around the world were
beginning to settle in to what they would ultimately be known for and as. A
sense of normalcy, relatively speaking, was blanketing the genre, and the
biggest genre shake up was coming in the form of exacerbations of preexisting
black metal conditions, things like the rise and sudden popularity of the
symphonic strain of black metal, or the initial rumblings of blackened thrash.
Some of the original Norwegian bands like Enslaved and Emperor were beginning
to move in different directions conceptually, and incorporating different
elements and influences, but there wasn’t really anything that was really
startling. So Emperor was getting a bit more symphonic, or Enslaved was getting
a bit more psychedelic. But then, it happened.
In 1998, Dodheimsgard released Satanic Art, a five track EP that contains two songs, and intro and
outro and a piano interlude. Extremely easy to brush aside, the songs present
on the EP would signal a pretty big shift in the bands’ output. It is hard to
comment on the material here, mainly because as soon as it starts to register
in your ear, it’s over. Satanic Art’s
run time is just under 16 minutes, but the two real songs, “Traces of Reality”
and “Symptom” are pretty good. They
represent initial stabs into the then-fledgling subgenre of industrial black
metal, a form that by now is very hit-or-miss, with a strong leaning towards
missing; but back then, this was cutting edge stuff, and was pretty universally
panned. The other tracks on the EP are piano pieces.
But if the EP was easy to overlook, what came next would not
be.
Released in 1999, the same year as spiritual sibling Rebel Extravaganza by Satyricon and two
years before the incredible self-titled Thorns album, 666 International is an entirely new band, a totally new sonic
profile. All-new and all-different, the album was a left field entry for the
black metal scene, which had by then begun to spread wide its arms to embrace a
number of different, varying bands, in something of a return to the very early
days of the Norwegian scene. A 50 minute journey that feels much, much longer
for all of its twists and turns and sonic terrors, 666 International was lauded by some critics and reviled by a whole
lot of everyone: this is not the kind of album that one would expect to follow
1996’s Monumental Possession, which,
if it has any faults, it’s that it contains at times steps backwards for the
writing. 666 International is a total
quantum leap forwards.
These days, we’re a little more accustomed to, if not
entirely accepting of, more progressive black metal, or black metal at least
that does things differently. Sure, there have always been the cries of the
True, those who disapprove of any and everything that deviates from the
original black metal blueprint, but a large part of the black metal scene is
comprised of bands doing things outside of that original format. This trio of
albums really was the start of a different avenue in the genre though, one I’m
not personally invested in outside of a few bands. But most importantly, they
helped to stretch the boundaries of the genre, which, for as much as I love it,
would probably have driven itself to extinction or, worse, afterthought, after
the original bands or second or third wave ones would have spilt up. Black
metal is marvelous stuff, but there may not be any other form of music that
breeds so much repetition.
Speaking of repetition, 666
International functions through nine tracks (plus a lengthy track of
silence at records’ end), of which six are longer than four minutes, and those
are the actual songs. Like the preceding EP, the songs are good but very
repetitious, consisting of looping guitar riffs and a more staccato percussion
delivery. The overall effect is hypnotic and at times eerie, although not
always able to stay interesting for the duration of the track. Songs are also
at times unpredictable, although that I attribute to the large and sudden shift
in musical direction the band took more than anything else. Clear winner of
Best Track goes to the fourth and longest actual song, “Regno Potiri,” which
utilizes clean female vocals at one point to surprising effect.
The vocals are also very different, with most of the album
dropping the black metal snarls completely in favor of a delivery that is more
of a shouting or rhythmic spoken word. It’s a change even from the vocal style
of Monumental Possession, and while
it works for this album, and in fact will work on the next two Dodheimsgard
albums, it, like the repetitive nature of the songs themselves, gets a bit
grating after a while.
Lyrically, the band is moving off into what they no doubt
thought was more philosophical, interpretive fare, but it doesn’t work,
generally. Some of the lyrics are pretty dumb, and I am hesitant to ascribe
that to the change in direction as well. Black metal bands of more adventurous
stripes have long been writing more cerebral or inquisitive lyrics, I’m
thinking of bands like Solefald or Vintersorg here, and while they do
occasionally come across as weak, I get the feeling that Dodheimsgard overshot
that mark on this record.
Overall, 666
International is a whole-album experience, not something that can be split
up into individual songs. In fact, the entire album is hard to hear in terms of
individual songs, sounding more like a single, unbroken track of music that
goes through movements rather than containing predetermined start and stop
points. To name check another later 90’s/early 2000’s masterwork, Green
Carnation’s single song, hour long Light
of Day, Day of Darkness does a tremendous job of being actual movements,
while 666 International does that
thing where you check to see how much time is left in this song, only to realize
that you’re now two songs down the playing order. At 61 minutes’ length, that
is kind of an accomplishment, as the listening experience is one where the time
just flies past. However, once one realizes that the album is still playing,
the repetitiveness becomes more apparent and then, the listening grows arduous.
666 International may
not get the attention that Rebel
Extravaganza or Thorns get, and
that is because it is a slightly less realized vision than either of those two.
That isn’t really meant to be a dig, because the Satyricon album is probably
the best collection of songs amongst the three and the Thorns album is some
true next level genius. But there is no denying what the album does, and that
it does it very well. More atmospheric than Satyricon, this record establishes
something and then perpetuates it for the full running time, and so is a
complete listening experience, if not a terribly memorable one. Riffs and songs
from its two contemporaries often drift through my mind, but there is not much
of that with this album. As has been a characteristic of the band all along,
while listening to this album, I am entertained and find the time enjoyable.
But once it ends, I am left feeling nothing more than a sense that the album
has ended. As with Kronet til Konge, there
is a mild sense of interest, but one that 666
International fails to capitalize on. An interesting change in direction
for the band and the genre, but we will have to wait and see if there’s any
capitalizing on it.
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