Midnattsol - Where Twilight Dwells

This is the first time that a ‘Nordic Folk Metal’ album has come to my attention. I had no idea that such a style existed, and in a way, I still refuse to believe that it does, such are the ruses used by record labels to make us believe they are putting out something different to anything that we’ve heard before, when what we have in front of us is, in fact, very similar to a lot of other stuff. This is also the first time that anything by Liv Kristine’s erstwhile sister, Carmen Elise, has come to my attention, for the simple reason that I actually had no idea that Liv Kristine had a sister, let alone one that was trying to crack the industry. So, apologies are due to Carmen and any other siblings waiting in the wings who remain as yet unheard of, unmentioned, but who are aspiring to shock the Metal world with Gothic tremors of Richter-scale proportions over the coming years. We await your talents breathlessly.

Where Twilight Dwells seemed to come out of nowhere. As much as I like to wallow in the self-congratulatory belief that I firmly keep my finger at least somewhere on the pulse, news of its impeding release slipped me by until I heard a few people raving about it [though to be fair they were the kind of people who rave about most things] and, knowing that it was Napalm, I was not totally shocked with how it sounded when I started playing it. Where Twilight Dwells is the standard, user-friendly Gothic female-fronted crowd-pleaser that Napalm seem to specialise in dishing out. The production is lush, the artwork is, well, rather good although it’s a little passé, and the songs are more or less instantly likeable although they’re all a little similar. But there is something that sets this apart from the rest of the Gothic Metal also-rans out there, and that is a little bit of a folk twist - a tang, a zest, a sprinkling, enough to leave an interesting and intriguing aftertaste but still not enough to warrant calling the entire album ‘Folk Metal’. As much as I don’t give two hoots about the folk community, I very much doubt they would agree that there’s much which is folky about this at all. Still, it’s an interesting element and one that certainly raises the interest level of the record, but not necessarily the bar.


Line-up

Carmen Elise Espeneas - vocals
Daniel Fischer - keyboards
Christian Hector - guitar, acoustic guitar, mouthharp
Birgit Öllbrunner - bass guitar
Daniel Froste - guitar, acoustic guitar
Chris Merzinsky - drums

1. Another Return 5:03
The first few bars of any album are like the first few lines of a book, vital in setting the tone for the rest of the work, and that’s exactly the case in Another Return. Midnattsol blast us with a heavy, though slightly creamy power chord progression, and a token bouncy riff, which is surprisingly effective in spite of how unadventurous it is. One thing is clear so far - Midnattsol know how to generate an atmosphere in a very short space of time. Carmen’s vocals are smooth, but a little too smooth, they’re almost without edge and it would be good if there were just a little bite to them, and this is unfortunately the case for the rest of the album. Midnattsol also seem to be a fan of fast bass-drumming, which works nicely against the solid guitars. Another Return then dives into a quieter, introspective section before picking up the groove and momentum towards the end with Carmen philosophising ‘reality is not far away’ over the top, whatever that means. Hey, it doesn’t have to make sense.

2. Lament 4:06
Here we see the ‘folk metal’ elements start to make themselves known as Lament starts off with a nice chunky riff and a twee keyboard effect like something off Storyteller before the drumming rolls into a quicker-paced verse, though followed by a slower, more melodic chorus. This is where we start to see a chink in the vocal lines since though it’s clear that Carmen has a nice voice, she’s not always in tune, though this doesn’t detract too much from the feeling that the songs give.

3. Unpayable Silence 5:03
This is the first acoustic track on the album, and one which is carefully placed so we can all have a rest after the melodic bombasts of the first couple of tracks. Acoustic numbers are more challenging for Carmen since the strength of the guitars can’t mask any vocal inconsistencies. Acoustic ballads are either a chance for the vocalist to show off [After Forever: Eccentric], wow us [The Gathering: My Electricity], bore us [Within Temptation: Memories] or show us that they’ve got a little work to do with their voice, which is the case here. Still, Unpayable Silence is a lovely melody which gets better which each listen and by now Midnattsol are definitely beginning to sound a little more folky. It reminds me of ice floes and penguins with fishing rods, even though that’s got nothing to do with Norway. But I can’t help that.

4. Haunted 3:24
This is one of the shortest songs on the album, which is definitely a good thing since it’s the weakest. Unfortunately Carmen really shows off her inconsistencies here and it’s a little disappointing. A couple of the notes actually verge on being painful. The verse and chorus are also so bland it’s amazing that the notes didn’t refuse to be played in protest. Skip.

5. Desolation 4:22
This is an interesting one, starting off with the line ‘I wonder how it is to be loved, I wonder how it is to be touched’. I imagine these are not Carmen’s sentiments, but if they are, it’s something that we all feel. Even the most hardened, gristle-chewing metalhead cannot deny that we all have moments when we feel like we need attention, so it’s a shame that the lyrics are so trite here. The music is a simple, solitary vocal line accompanied by swirling wind noises [erm] and an acoustic guitar, before the axe comes down and the distortion and the double bass-drumming cuts in, and it actually comes off rather well. We even get treated to a violin, which unfortunately sounds like someone playing the comb. By this point in the album Midnattsol are having the same problem as a lot of bands – lack of variety in the songs - and variety is about more than having an acoustic number here and a heavier number there. These are sad times, but it’s still a good song. I empathise.

6 Enlightenment 4:07
Enlightenment is one of three songs on the album, along with Haunted and På Leting, which give the listener hardly anything since there is musically very little of merit in it. I hate to call songs like these ‘fillers’ since they do have something to them, and I even get the feeling that the band tried with them to write something interesting, but it just hasn’t worked. This is unlikely to be a song you’ll listen to over and over again since there’s really not much essence to it in spite of the twiddly guitar.

7. Tårefall 4:22
This is by far one of the album’s strongest moments and don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s sung in Norwegian because of the title, which is only there to make you think of exotic Norwegian stereotypes and to look words up on the internet and go “Tårefall means ‘crunchy’, didn’t you know that” to others like it was part of your personal knowledge and that you always had a secret interest in Norwegian dialects. It’s an acoustic number, but certainly with more of a folk sound than Unpayable Silence, with Carmen’s vocals not being bad at all and certainly more well-suited than in a lot of the heavier numbers. Midnattsol can really pull off the softer songs rather well.

8. Infinita Fairytale 4:46
This one starts off by sounding like Over The Hills And Far Away before finding its own tack very early on. It’s one of the more interesting heavier numbers on the album, primarily because the chorus lets you expect it’s going a certain way before undernourishing you by doing something totally different, slowing down and changing time signature, and though it’s disappointing, it’s almost a good disappointment since it shows that Midnattsol are capable of a little experimentation. Maybe this is a glimmer of hope for things to come.

9. På Leting 4:07
OK, this one is in Norwegian, or as least I think it is. This is another song that starts softly before channelling its distortion straight into our ears for the second half of the verse. Sadly, by the time you get there you’ll have lost interest. The main melody is insipidly repetitive and the piano line sounds as if it was played on one of those Yamaha stocking-fillers that musician mum and dads give their kids as a big treat for Christmas in the hope that one day they’ll morph into a concert pianist. I’m not quite sure what the point of this song is, maybe it’s to fit in with the ‘Nordic’ part of the ‘folk metal’ tag. It has to have some function because musically it has none.

10. Dancing With The Midnight Sun 3:58
This is a slightly faster number which is also a little uninventive. The drums pound away mechanically in the chorus and if it weren’t for the title you wouldn’t be able to pick out any of the lyrics, so thanks for that. Soldier on.

11. Tapt Av Håp 7:55
Midnattsol save one of the best for last, and though going by the previous numbers you’d think that they would have a job stringing out a song to eight minutes, thankfully you’d be wrong. Tapt Av Håp starts off with some beautiful acoustic guitar and ocean-wavy sounds [still doing that atmospheric sample thing] which last for nearly three minutes, and it’s actually three minutes well-spent as the feeling builds before hitting us with another slice of Norwegian lyrics, which seem to sit far better in this song than in På Leting. Soon enough we get the crunchier guitars and the pounding drumming. The only thing that’s missing from the song is a big climax since this should really be the big swansong of the album, and though Midnattsol have shown they are capable of building up the tension within a song, they also seems perfectly capable of releasing it halfway through and not at the end. Therefore the outro just drags itself out like a runner doing a victory lap that no-one’s paying attention to. Because of this, the end of the album goes out with more of whimper than a bang. It’s been a thrilling ride, though maybe one with too many pit-stops.

In spite of the fact that Where Twilight Dwells has one or two boring numbers in it, the overall effect of the album is a positive one. The sound production is always crisp and most of the numbers are well-written. However, it’s clear that Napalm are very keen on selling the ‘folk’ element of the music, since if they didn’t we probably all wouldn’t like it so much. This is very much a case of successful marketing on Napalm’s part since it’s all too easy to pay attention to the folk elements, sparse as they are, rather than judging it in its entirety and not listening to the label telling you what you should think it is.

Though songs like Another Return, Lament and Tårefall are definitely enjoyable and yes, folky, it’s a shame that there are a few others which are so dreadfully boring and that are shoved in to make the album look a little fatter. Napalm should have been a little less insistent on making the album sound like an innovative entrepreneurial portion of Gothic experimentation, and more interested in leaving it to mould itself, not that that’s something that most record companies are capable of doing. This album would have been far better with about 8 tracks rather than 11, since the duller numbers don’t really need to be there, they weigh it down and without their pressure it could have been something a little more special. Still, in the songs that are genuinely good, which are in the majority, the effect is very pleasing and Napalm still have come up with a winner here. My only hope is that the band are left to their own a little more in the future and can explore any folk interests more without these being too enforced. Where Twilight Dwells was an idea that certainly worked, though it could have worked a lot better.

Music: 7
Sound production: 8
Extras –
Overall: 7.5/10