Mjölnir - Mjölnir demo II 1996
1) Intro / Schwertzeit, Wolfszeit, Blutzeit
2) Heilige Macht der Flamme
3) Die Kunde aus ferner Zeit
4) Schwertzeit, Windzeit, Wolfszeit
5) Intro / Ihm
6) Dein ist der Thron König des Waldes
7) In der Halle der Wölwa
Mega / Sampo
Let us finally complete the Mjölnir saga of the Coven with this post dedicated to sister Borderline, congrats! I say complete which in a way is not entirely true, "Walpurgisfeuer" demo will be skipped as it was released as part of the excellent "Hinweg über die Tore der Zeit" re-release done by Darker Than Black which is highly recommended. This is the second demo, nevermind the Metal Archives disinformation claiming this to be 1st, we've already established that "The Hour of Lemegeton" was the debut demo and released in '95. I do not remember anymore how I came to set this to '96 but I'm sure I had a good reason. The little cover scan is not very helpful on the matter.
I received this demo from the same contributor that delivered the first demo and unfortunately this had a bit questionable track division too. I would've posted the rip much earlier had I found the drive to delve into yet another Mjölnir riddle sooner. But enough moaning, it should be done now and I've taken a very different approach to it than for example the M-A submitter. I went with the theory that the Intro / title combos were not an intro plus a song but rather than that intro and its name. That made the tracklisting easier to wrestle and yields now a shortish intro, a long track, a VERY long track of three quite distinct parts, an instrumental track, another intro of brief sort, again a long track and a bit longer instrumental track. The lyrics, as they can be heard, seem to fit too. I must mention the rip might be slightly incomplete as both instrumental tracks seem to end quite abruptly, I'm quite sure the last one is just missing a few seconds more of fade out but can't be very confident of Schwertzeit, Windzeit, Wolfzeit that ends the A... oh pardon me, Hugin side.
Another slight issue is the lowish bitrate of the rip, so I would still appreciate an original copy or a very good dub of the demo. Sound itself is comparable to other Mjölnir demos, maybe a bit better than the average. The band is here also a three-piece, with Bölthorn standing beside Arkthorn and Grimmiger Frost. Perhaps his presence on the percussion adds strength to the proceedings or maybe it is my elation getting this damned thing finally done, but right now I feel like this is my favourite Mjölnir demo. Some highlights include: the long, long Die Kunde... which manages to be entirely great and the steady pound, pound, pound of Dein ist der Thron... Gotta love that! I won't go further into details, this is highly recommended for Mjölnir fans, trawlers of the murky depths of German UG and people who enjoy ambient instrumentals featuring nature sounds such as wind, bubbling water and wolves.
9 kommenttia:
This demo is orginally called: Schwertzeit, Windzeit, Wolfzeit.
Track #1 09:17
Track #2 10:44
Track #3 04:57
Track #4 05:44
Track #5 04:16
Track #6 03:38
Track #7 05:38
The orginal has handwritten bonussongs by Antichrist (Cologne) and Mjölnir.
:) Thank you my dear brother!!
@PolnischerAlptraum:
Sorry, but you're just repeating the Metal Archives entry which I stated I disagree with on the write-up. I also stated the reasons for the tracklisting edit I added. Your track 2 is clearly "Die Kunde aus ferner Zeit" - listen to the lyrics.
I'm not buying that song division unless a Mjölnir member gives it. :)
I assume you have an original copy, with the bonus songs? Are the tracks 4 and 7 cut here or do they just end so suddenly?
@Borderline:
You're welcome, hope you enjoyed the demo, I think it's among the best Mjölnir tapes.
"Die Kunder aus ferner Zeit" is 16:21 long actually.
@Velkaarn, thanks for clearing this up with the name, I too thought it was called "Schwertzeit, Windzeit, Wolfzeit" and now after so many years, my Mjölnir collection is finally complete. Also, greetings to Borderline for all her great contributions over the past years!
@PA:
Would you have a rip of this version? I would be interested to compare.
@anon:
You're welcome. I should have probably added the small full cover scan to the post itself, it's a bit unclear at places but readable. There is no indication whatsoever that the demo would be named "Schwertzeit..." anywhere on it. It is not uncommon by any mean for demos and EPs too to acquite names that aren't actually given them. Then you have your albums that actually do not have their name printed on the cover, like Enslaved's "Vikingligr Veldi" which had the title mentioned inside the booklet only. Or at least the original had. I think re-releases are more clear on it.
Pretty cool demo. The other Mjolnir release I've heard is the rip of "Midgard erwache!" you provided. Both "Die Kunde" and "Dein ist" are a little too repetitive in the black metal sections to be perfect, but they're definitely great compositions and I do like that pound-pound from the drums in "Dein ist." The ambient songs have the sorts of synth tones I love. I think I prefer this over "Midgard erwache!" too. I'll have to look into getting that 2-CD release.
@Rhun:
I agree, though I did really like some parts of "Midgard erwache!" - especially the looong synth parts were nice. I should re-visit it tonight, it's been a while since I last listened through it. Oh and you definitely should look to the 2-CD. If you want to check it out, I can rip my copy and send it to you though I sincerily recommend grabbing it.
I also enjoy the long ambient songs on "Midgard." No need to rip your copy of the 2-CD, I can listen to samples of the the original album and the "Walpurgisfeuer" demo on YouTube. But thank you. Actually just listened to "Walpurgisfeuer" last night and really liked it. Songwriting definitely sounds more refined on that demo, although it also means it lacks the random fun of not being bound by common sense that these earlier demos have.
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