On encounters with new music

It's self evident that we've had a slow start; I would even go as far to say that we're still at the starting line, for three posts are virtually nothing. We have not been diligent nor attentive,  and as of now Metal Jotunn remains among the plethora of half-dead Metal blogs that, in truth, are of no interest. I strive to think that we're still in the stages of forming an identity for this particular blog, but I understand this cannot happen if we continue to remain silent. I will say, however, that until the two admins--that is, Ricky and myself--meet in a couple of weeks to discuss a few nuances, the posts will remain sporadic.

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This reminds me of Manowar. Epic!

One of the things that I love about Metal blogs--and the Internet in general--is that I get to hear new bands almost everyday. A year ago, my music library had about one-half of the bands that I know prize; a year ago, I was nothing but a Power Metal fan, and hardly anything more. Yet now, because of blogs such as That's Not Metal, Steff Metal, No Clean Singing, and others (which are on the blog roll to the right) I have delved into the realm of Thrash Metal, and I'm making my way through the wasted land of Death Metal. Names such as Nightrage, Demonic Resurrection, Ana Kefr , Hemoptsysis…  have become common place. (No more Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber for me!)

The issue with this approach, of course, is that sometimes you come across generic bullshit or pretentious idiocy. Or perhaps you find a download website, and excitedly fill your iPod with a ton of new bands, ready to blast your ears… and you are presented with a discordant sound that appears to be created by playing random notes and having tempo shifts for the mere sake of being "artsy" (DtS, it seems, have a "strong ambition and unparalleled creativity, [and] strive to spread new sounds, and open minds throughout the world." Go figure.):

To save you from these moments of undeniable terror, to keep you from the darkest side of human creativity--I will refrain from calling this music-- I will install a new feature for the blog. At least once a week I will post a song or two by a Metal band who, in my unquestionable opinion, is worthy of the "Metal" label, or is at least worthy of attention.

For the first installment of this, I present to you a German band whose lyrical theme is in accordance The Jotunn. Rebellion was formed in 2001 by Uwe Lulis and Tomi Gottlitch, both of whom left the band Grave Digger to begin their new project. Shakespeare's Macbeth -- A Tragedy in Steel was released a year after their formation, and as the title suggests, the concept album deals with the story of  Macbeth--the album even has passages recited from the play.

According to Wikipedia, "The second album, [Born a Rebel (2003)], involved more standard heavy-metal lyrics – about motorcycles, metal, war, etc. – and the music was somewhat rougher."

In 2005 Rebellion released their third album, Sagas of Iceland, which was intended to be the first volume of a trilogy dealing with Viking lore and Norse mythology. The series was aptly called The History of the Vikings, which is comprised by the aforementioned album, Miklagard (2007) and the last release of the band, Arise: From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök (2009).

This is what Steff Metal, in a post for Lip Service, said of Rebellion:

I listen to this album non-stop while working on my novels. You know how you buy an album on the strength of one of two songs, but then the rest of the album turns out to be weak? No so with Arise – every song blisters with dark riffs, soaring vocals and Viking anger. It’s a brilliant power metal record, with deep vocals that would appeal even to non-power metal fans. I’m gutted to hear that three of the founding members, including guitarist Uwe Lulis, left the band, but at least they were able to conclude their Viking trilogy with this amazing album.

And here are two songs from The History of the Vikings: