Norwegian metal outfit
Dodheimsgard (also known as DHG), fronted by vocalist Bjorn "Aldrahn" Gjerde
and with drummer Yusaf "Vicotnik" Parvez,
debuted with an uninspired imitation of
Darkthrone's black metal,
Kronet Til Konge (1995).
Meanwhile, Vicotnik switched decisively to guitar when he formed the power-trio
Ved Buens Ende with drummer Carl-Michael "Czral" Eide and bassist Skoll, which wed black metal and post-rock on their only album Written In Waters (1995).
Adding a second guitarist, Dodheimsgard recorded the less derivative Monumental Possession (1996), bookended by Satanic audio collages.
After the EP Satanic Art (1998), Dodheimsgard suddenly converted to
industrial metal on 666 International (1999), produced by Bjorn Boge,
with lengthy, convoluted compositions like
Shiva-Interfere,
Regno Potiri and
Sonar Bliss.
without losing the ferocity of black metal, like a more punkish version of
Nine Inch Nails
(especially in Sonar Bliss)
with
Skinny Puppy's Nivek Ogre on vocals (Aldrahn's register is virtually identical to Ogre's).
Czral
drafted Vicotnik and others to
form Virus
(not the most original of names, already used by
a German band of the early 1970s,
an English thrash-metal band of the 1980s, an Argentinian band of the 1980s, a punk band from Philadelphia of the late 1990s, and a Russian dance band of the 2000s).
Their debut Carheart (Jester, 2003)
gave Ved Buens Ende's
post-metal mission an even more surreal twist.
The highlights are as unfriendly and frosty as metal gets: the
convoluted Carheart, shaped by anarchic guitar riffs and drumbeats,
the dense, intricate interplay of It's All Gone Weird (with the rare melodic refrain),
and the Slint-ian instrumental Road.
There are also traces of operatic prog-rock (Queen of the Hi-Ace)
and of disjointed prog-jazz (Hustler).
They remember they are supposed to be a metal band in the more virulent
Bandit, but the endless
whining and monotonous guitar strumming of Be Elevator are hardly
justified.
The vocals are definitely the weak element.
After a hiatus of eight years, Vicotnik was the only original member left of Dodheimsgard and he shortened their name to DHG for Supervillain Outcast (2007),
a confused album with more electronics and Vicotnik on vocals,
flirting with synth-pop (All Is Not Self) but also with three a-cappella interludes. However, Vendetta Assassin and especially
The Vile Delinquents displayed the black-metal genes.
Vicotnik went on to work on Code's Resplendent Grotesque (2009).
Virus continued without Vicotnik (and with Czral playing guitar) on
The Black Flux (2008),
featuring drummer Einar Sjurso and bassist Petter Berntsen,
The Agent That Shapes the Desert (2011) and
Memento Collider (2016).
After another long hiatus, Vicotnik assembled a new lineup of
DHG (with Aldrahn again on vocals) for
A Umbra Omega (2015), which consists of five lengthy labyrinthine suites
that would be called prog-rock if they didn't feature sections of extreme
metal, with also incursions of saxophone and keyboards:
Aphelion Void (15:14),
God Protocol Axiom (13:13),
The Unlocking (11:21),
Architect of Darkness (11:59) and
Blue Moon Duel (14:20).
