English duo Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg
(bass and keyboards),
which translates as "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain",
began as a lo-fi version of Finnish ultra-doom masters
Skepticism
on
Forest Of Doom (2001).
The stately and march-like
Voyage Through the Aether - Part I (9:03), which weaves
a repetitive synth melody and a bass beat,
feels like a comatose descent into a dark cave.
Voyage Through the Aether - Part II (8:47) is a lugubrious synth fantasia, the precursor of a genre that would be dubbed "dungeon synth".
In this album their music was relatively melodic and folkish.
Their music morphed into the abstract, glacial and colossal suites of Arcane Runes Adorn The Ice-Veiled Monoliths Of The Ancient Cavern Of The Stars (2003), lo-fi droning ambient music inspired by black metal:
Aeons of Darkness (13:44), a rumble that emits a feeble and very dilated melody,
The Doom-Trolls of Grelch (25:18), a slowly rising bass drone,
and
Beyond the Void (14:45), which attempts a slightly more dynamic melody.
Here the bass prevails over the keyboards.
Their static approach becomes pure trance.
Tolling Beyond The Tombs Of Ancient Grimnity (2003), on which the synth
is again the dominant instrument.
If prog-rock crescendo of Aether (15:15) is rather trivial,
and Doom's Children (16:55) is almost comically lugubrious, like in a sendup of horror movies,
but Tolling Beyond the Tombs of Ancient Grimnity (11:19), with its
metallic percussion and crackling bass drones, is indeed menacing and imposing.
The logical destination of their journey was the granitic and emotionless sound of Dark Clouds Blacken The Sky On The Eve Of The Thousandth Sacrifice (2005).
The
15-minute Sa Jord Bloter Svarten Stjerne av Satan Oppgangen Triumpherend in Himmel/ So Jord Bloter Answered, that the Star of Satan Shall Rise in the Sky
feels like a brief section of a requiem stretched to last forever.
By their standard, the eight-minute
Dark Clouds Blacken the Sky on the Eve of the Thousandth Sacrifice
boasts a lot of movement, almost a psychedelic jam.
The 17-minute The Children of Doom is a childish exercise in randomly
striking the chords of the bass and turning the dials of the synth.
The 19-minute Lost weaves several melodic patterns that alternate and overlap.
The two interlocking melodies of the 16-minute Aether (possibly the standout, very different from the version on the previous album) are indeed captivating, but the piece overextends its welcome by ten minutes.
Nothing is groundbreaking and everything is exaggerated.
Ungl'Unl'rrlh'Chchch (2003) is a Trollmann side-project that pushed the experiment to the extreme, like an ambient remix of a doom-metal riff.
Punshing repetition to the limit and further limiting the development of a composition,
As the Fog Clears but for a Moment, Weary Travellers Behold the Majesty of the Snow-clad Mountains of Crom, Bathed in Ancient Starlight (2007)
is their most elegant album.
Brief and Powerless (15:27) is the musical equivalent of the shadows of a procession of monks: cryptic and serene while evoking death at every step.
Ensorcelled by Eons (23:09) repeats endlessly its mournful, dejected funereal refrain like someone who can't get over the death of a loved on, but also evoking an eternity of suffering.
The organ lament Det Som Engang Var (18:56) evokes a march of priests and their church hymn, but also a bit of hope.
Mountains of Crom (15:20) represents perhaps their most humane moment: a melancholy, gloomy and doleful hum.
If there is a state of life beyond trance, they wrote the soundtrack for it.
Mordraaneth of Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg compiled pieces composed over the years on the double-disc The Taverns In The Land Of Ashes (Skulls Of Heaven, 2007).
