Over the course of the last three years since the release of their first CDr back in 2005, they have managed to produce a singularly impressive body of work. Well, quantity-wise at least, since I must admit that this is my first encounter with the duo from Farnsfield.

What’s strange, though, is not so much the rather proactive history of the group (Peter Andersson and Henrik ‘Nordvargr’ Björkk could teach them a lesson or two) but the manner in which this, their new album hit the shelves. Or didn’t, since it actually comes in two different formats, one as a high quality MP3-only release which you can purchase for less than two dollars – even less in quids or euros - and the other as a deluxe hardback picture book complete with a good ol’ CD, which will set you back 75 dollars - still expensive in quids or euros.

At least you can find solace in the fact that you’ll be one of only nine punters to own said object. Come to think of it, I won’t elaborate too much on the latter (a pdf version of the book is available on the band’s website if you’re interested) seeing how it might well be sold out for all I know.

To the music, then. Starting off the proceedings with some trance-y, lightweight power electronics that could as well have graced a Folkstorm album, Ghosts (Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium) – meaning ‘they all leave mysteriously’ according to my now retired Latin teacher – then continues into somewhat murkier territory that, while not distinctly dark ambient-sounding (no ringing bells, ominous sound waves or assorted niceties here), still manages to conjure up the kind of atmosphere you would expect walking at night in the woods… or on top of a mountain, rather, seeing how the info sheet informs us that the album was actually recorded at the foot of mount Helvellyn (the third highest peak in England, for all you geographers out there) earlier this year. The rest of the album pretty much follows the above pattern, switching as it does between mostly introspective tracks (All Hell & Despair, at sixteen minutes the longest track on offer on an album otherwise made of rather shorter tracks) and occasionally more rhythmic experimentations (The Mountains Are Machines), which as you can imagine makes it somewhat complicated for the listener to completely immerse themselves in a given atmosphere. Or maybe that was the desired effect, I am not sure.

 Of course, it’s difficult to come up with a concept like this without coming across as über-artsy at times and the group doesn’t disappoint. As a matter of fact, I could do without half of the tracks on offer, the uplifting ones or the gloomy ones, depending on the mood I’m in at that particular point in time, kind of like having two albums being played almost simultaneously. Or, to take another example, like eating tuna and raspberry jam at the same time. Which is a shame, really, as you can tell the guys seem to know exactly what they’re doing and they’re actually doing it fairly well.

An acquired taste, most certainly.  

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