Vintersorg
Cosmic Genesis

THE REVIEW

On my profile, there is a list of the 100 bands to send into space in case we want to demonstrate our level of civilization to potential life forms. Vintersorg is not on it. Obviously, they are not a well-known artist, mainly because they aren't heavily promoted.

However, if I had to choose 100 ALBUMS to send into space, I would have no doubts, Cosmic Genesis would be there. If I had to choose 50, it would still be there. If there were only 10, I would reluctantly have to leave it out: Ok Computer, The Dark Side Of The Moon, or Abbey Road would take precedence.

Now let's explain why. I certainly can't hide how my love story with this band began, of which in 2005 I accidentally downloaded a first, fateful, song and by 2008 I had all the original albums. That's it. Let's explain what makes Cosmic Genesis such a special album.

First of all, its evolution compared to its predecessors. It features an incredibly modern sound, in contrast with the previous folk Viking trend. There are sci-fi keyboards and electric guitars on the edge of prog, along with the drum machine and basic instruments that build an incredible sound wall. On the other hand, the growl has almost disappeared, reduced to the first four songs. In its place, an extremely structured singing (in English, no less), with multiple overlapping voices, is certainly no longer genuine but extremely mature and versatile, and still free from the future manneristic tendencies of Mr. V. 

Change of themes, the praise of Swedish nature gives way to the wonders of the cosmos. There are more or less explicit references in the lyrics to philosophers, astronomers, and poets; like the Swede Karl Eric Forslund, the science fiction writer Carl Sagan, the metaphysical poet John Donne, and our Giordano Bruno.

Astral And Arcane alone is enough to understand (?) the vibe. Your ears are literally tossed from the heaviest modern black metal to light and effortless keyboard excursions, all with smoothness that many artists dream of. The same goes for songs like Cosmic Genesis or Naturens Galleri. Algol, A Dialogue With The Stars, or Ars Memorativa are decidedly more granite, striking for their violence yet easily memorable. Sweeter songs like Om Regnbågens Materialiserades or the wonderful The Enigmatic Spirit (the fateful track) take your breath away, given the apparent simplicity that hides a chiseled work and an incredible variety of instruments.

It's been said, prog, Viking, black, but also, the ever-present seventies hard rock, here presented directly from the cover of Rainbow Demon by Uriah Heep. Here, hard rock is the winning piece, the element that makes an album that isn't simple and immediate seem so, making a wonderfully structured and extremely complex work seem within earshot (any ear).

Just as cosmic chaos is harnessed by unintelligible laws, in the same way, Cosmic Genesis manages to encompass in its 50 minutes all the metal knowledge since metal is metal. How? We don't know. The fact remains that if Vintersorg had, in that distant 2000, enjoyed better promotional means, he could have rewritten the history of a genre.

10.0

1 Astral and arcane   6:56
2 Algol     6:08
3 A dialogue with the stars   5:47
4 Cosmic Genesis    7:06
5 Om Regnbågens materialiserades  5:01
6 Ars Memorativa    5:09
7 Rainbow Demon    4:01
8 Naturens Galleri    5:22
9 The Enigmatic Spirit    4:43