This year may mark twenty years since Ulver’s seminal ‘Bergtatt’ debut full-length saw the light of day but its influence within the more pastoral, folk-tinged reaches of the black metal scene continues to be felt as strongly as ever. Enter stage right Istapp (Swedish for ‘Icicle’) – a two man outfit consisting of multi-instrumentalist Fjalar and vocalist Isar – who present a convincing dose of chilly, Bergtatt-reminiscent Scandinavian black metal on the appropriately titled ‘Frostbiten’. And no, I haven’t mistyped that, all the titles/lyrics are in their mother tongue.
Opener ‘Apep’ charges straight of the gates on a wave of tight blasting and jauntily melodic riffs. Isar’s vocals are caustic, dry and high in the mix – very mid-nineties Garm – whilst the pastoral guitars and organic drum sound again bring to mind that classic Ulver record. Influenced though Istapp may be, they definitely present their own twist to the sound in the form of defiantly upbeat, jig-esque passages that bring to mind images of mischievous trolls frolicking in the snow. ‘Skoll’ is a case in point, being an eminently ‘danceable’ track despite its frantic pace.
This isn’t Istapp’s strong point if I’m honest – some of these folksier passages are more than a little whimsical, their ‘bounciness’ at odds with the convincingly bracing sonic tones that the duo describe. Far better are the tracks where they play it straight – ‘Primum Frigidum’ is a more sombre, soaring affair and more effective for it whilst ‘Polcirkelns Herre’ wheels out some darker riffing and sinister roaming bass under the percussive gallop.
A little worryingly, the lustre of Frostbiten’s appeal starts to wane towards the back end of the album. Maybe it’s the almost relentless fast pace, the slightly one-dimensional delivery of the vocals or indeed an over-reliance on one particular sonic palette but there’s a definite sense of momentum being lost. With this in mind, whilst Frostbiten is a decent, well-executed album there’s a whiff of disposability about it – not only that, the band’s insistence on returning to the jaunty (borderline trite) each time they lock into a darker groove (‘Fimbulwinter’ being a case in point) undermines the atmosphere more often than not. Solid and at times great but nothing to get too excited about.
(7/10 Frank Allain)
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