I know little of Gnosis Of The Witch besides its origin being Iceland. When browsing the discography from Iron Bonehead bandcamp page I was originally looking for something with more death metal in it, but this one particular release stood out, because it reminded very much of something old and special: Mayhem's Wolf's Lair Abyss. I don't know to what extent Gnosis Of The Witch are directly influenced by this album, but at times it sounds like it undeniably must be some sort of tribute. This old intense and raw release by Mayhem truly deserves its own appreciation post. Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar is the album's (or rather EP's, as it only has four tracks) title, which I prefer to leave untranslated to preserve the mystery and let the mind wander what it's really about by audio-exploring the music itself.I find this EP special because of two reasons. One being because I have always wanted to hear more of Wolf's Lair Abyss, and never quite found anything reminiscent of it. Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar is lacking in production by comparison, it's not as clear and hence less straight forward. I think I would enjoy it more if it had better sound and richer details, but it still appears memorable to me. The second reason to my appreciation is the musical part: The EP surfaces as deliberately complicated. The melodies may not be original and unheard of, but the overall composition gives me a sense that someone has put thought and skill into. The combination of sounds is fairly complex: straight forward with a touch of melody, and a mysterious distant atmosphere looming through-out the whole thing. This is where true musical skill emerges in my opinion, by being able to not only come up with interesting source material, but also finding ways to mix it all together into one musical stream. Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar appears ancient, strange, angry and shrieking, and sometimes dreamy.
Relevant link: Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar bandcamp page
Tag(s): black metal