Troll
Drep De Kristne

Publishing an album and being ignored can be, at least in the metal field, an advantage for your image (that's what they call "being alternative"); writing an exceptional one and remaining unknown can be more painful; but composing a beautiful album, staying in the shadows, and seeing other bands triumph with an identical sound is the final blow.

That’s what happened to Troll, who in 1996 released "Drep De Kristne", their masterpiece, only to end up back in the anonymity from which they came. It is not a rough and raw album, penalized by poor recording quality, nor is it a commercial product, easy and tiresome, and nor is it a collector's item, out of production after a couple of months: "Drep De Kristne" is a fantastic album, played impeccably, arranged with expertise, and crafted to break through into an environment more heterogeneous than the underground one. So why didn’t it become a historic album? It simply had the misfortune of being released simultaneously with the two most important Symphonic Black (Mainstream) albums in history: "Dusk... And Her Embrace" by Cradle Of Filth and "Stormblast" by Dimmu Borgir. Troll were overwhelmed by the vampire-esque, goth-like excesses of these bands, going almost unnoticed afterward.

Needless to say, "Drep De Kristnie" eats the two rivals for breakfast: from start to finish a constant inspiration marks this album, absolutely perfect, according to those who appreciated it as the best example of Symphonic Black alongside "In The Nightside Eclipse" by Emperor (of which it represents the melodic and gothic counterpart).

Just the first notes of the opener "Kristenhat" are enough to understand the difference with the tons of modern records derived from these sounds: while bands that built their success on this sub-genre have relatively sidelined black metal, emphasizing theatrical effect through an increasingly horror-film-like keyboard style, Troll achieves a perfect balance between the two souls. The foundation is a solid black metal, in a Norwegian style obviously, fast and based on the classic "power chord" compositional style; on this, the symphonic keyboard parts are laid, which repeatedly reflect a folkloristic, theatrical, horrific, and surreal taste. The result is a work that would be great even without the symphonic element, but it develops into always different solutions (recalling in this the Emperor of the golden age).

This aspect deserves more attention: the compositions unfold through an interplay between the keyboard and guitar sides that is always different and varied; it smoothly transitions from entirely symphonic chapters (therefore without any trace of metal), such as "Med Vold Skal Takes Kristenliv" (based on a very folk-oriented atmosphere, with clean choirs like Ulver) and the triumphant march "Gud's Fall" (entirely instrumental), to episodes where the two components unite. Here too there is great variety, among pieces where keyboard parts form a carpet for the guitars, and others where the two souls intertwine, influencing each other in epic and surreal combinations (a bit like "Inno a Satana" by Emperor).

A final note that I only caught after listening to the album, which left me in "ecstasy": I knew that behind Troll lay the mind of Nagash (Stian Arnesen), later known for joining as a bassist in Dimmu Borgir during the period 1996-1999 - not to be confused with Stian Aarstad, the keyboardist - and as a member of the Kovenant (as Lex Icon); I just didn't believe he could be the only musician to have recorded the parts for this album! From the rhythm section to the guitars, passing through the scream (to be heard, sharp and shrill, similar to Torog’s of Behexen on Rituale Satanum), Nagash widely demonstrates that he is the best multi-instrumentalist in the Black scene.

All at only 18 years old, I might add.

You decide.