Nattsmyg - Fylgja
'Fylgja' is a very different approach for Dan Heikenberg's musical baby known as Nattsmyg. While some might be expecting the typical black metal tingeg with acoustic sections and a switch between harsh snarls and cleaner, choir set vocals, 'Fylgja' tries to delve away from that stereotype. Instead of being more 'loud and metal,' Dan went for a more orchestral, almost dreamy tone with his music. This is folk metal that is more set in the direction of Yggdrasil's extremely early work- heavily organic- versus the more mainstream stuff that is out on the market these days. The first things listeners will notice is that Dan has gone for the more instrumental approach- his vocals are hardly present on any of the tracks. Instead, he has Linn Carlshaf. She is a bit of a newcomer to the metal world, but her soft voice suits the music perfectly when it comes to tracks like "Skuggfolket" or the title track. Think of her voice similar to that of The Gather's vocalist- soft and mysterious but also unwavering.
Dan of course as a guitarist and keyboardist adds his own flavor throughout the music to back her up. Sometimes it is heavy like "Death Keeps Me Near" where he also adds his own snarls, but overall the whole 'electric guitar riff' feel to the music is largely absent. The keyboards dominate everything with their ambient wistful style, much like how Emperor did their keyboards on 'Nightside Eclipse' or DImmu Borgir on 'Death Triumphant' and tries to keep with a very symphonic atmosphere that is largely folk oriented. Other times he goes for a more viking, operatic clean style with "Dance The Mountain Halls" along with his harsher snarls, and even those are mysterious as he will often make them faded and almost vocoder sounding, especially when they are layered with Linn's high vocals. Sometimes there are no vocals at all such as with "Skepnaden Vid Sjön" and it sounds like one bit dreamy, instrumental keyboard piece that is the end to someone surviving a zombie apocalypse: very hopeful but also foreboding because one knows they're going to make a part two...
Overall this is a unique brand of folk metal, and for it all come from one person is even more impressive. It's a bit more 'laid back' than some might expect, so consider this more experimental than metal. It's not super heavy, but that's part of its charm as Dan tries to turn 'Fylgja' into something he hasn't really done before. The addition of Linn Carlshaf is certainly the right choice and hopefully she will continue on a mainstay, particuarly because her voice dominates the entire album. Dan could very well choose a whole new vocalist to participate on his future project, but it would be difficult to find someone who replaced someone who seemed to work as well with the theme and flow of the music on 'Fylgja' as Linn did.
Dan of course as a guitarist and keyboardist adds his own flavor throughout the music to back her up. Sometimes it is heavy like "Death Keeps Me Near" where he also adds his own snarls, but overall the whole 'electric guitar riff' feel to the music is largely absent. The keyboards dominate everything with their ambient wistful style, much like how Emperor did their keyboards on 'Nightside Eclipse' or DImmu Borgir on 'Death Triumphant' and tries to keep with a very symphonic atmosphere that is largely folk oriented. Other times he goes for a more viking, operatic clean style with "Dance The Mountain Halls" along with his harsher snarls, and even those are mysterious as he will often make them faded and almost vocoder sounding, especially when they are layered with Linn's high vocals. Sometimes there are no vocals at all such as with "Skepnaden Vid Sjön" and it sounds like one bit dreamy, instrumental keyboard piece that is the end to someone surviving a zombie apocalypse: very hopeful but also foreboding because one knows they're going to make a part two...
Overall this is a unique brand of folk metal, and for it all come from one person is even more impressive. It's a bit more 'laid back' than some might expect, so consider this more experimental than metal. It's not super heavy, but that's part of its charm as Dan tries to turn 'Fylgja' into something he hasn't really done before. The addition of Linn Carlshaf is certainly the right choice and hopefully she will continue on a mainstay, particuarly because her voice dominates the entire album. Dan could very well choose a whole new vocalist to participate on his future project, but it would be difficult to find someone who replaced someone who seemed to work as well with the theme and flow of the music on 'Fylgja' as Linn did.
Älvadans- Skuggfolket
- Dance The Mountain Halls
- Fjättrad
- Fylgja
- Irrblossens Sken
I Skogens Hjärta- Death Keeps Me Near
- Skepnaden Vid Sjön
- Vålnaders Slagfält (bonus track)
