Faanefjell-Trollmasj

Mayhem
2010

Faanefjell is a Norwegian mountain and the story goes that trolls were driven away by people building their houses and churches. That lead to a battle over the land between the trolls and humans as both groups thought they had rights to the land. So Trollmarsj is the story of the mountain, humans, priests, fights and the march of the two trolls, Grimtroll and Sørtroll. The music is a combination of black, folk and symphonic metal. All three styles are frequently pushed together in the telling of this story. The album also features guest appearances by Cato Arghamon (Trail of Tears, Dimension F3H, Cutthroat, Lucid Fear), Ronny Thorsen (Trail of Tears), Frank Ørland (ex-Scariot, ex-Harm), Daniel Sandén-Varg (Odd Nordstoga) and Audun Grønnestad (Imperia, Angel). Largely it's a two man band carrying out their vision on this concept album. This is certainly and involved album that requires the listener to really focus in on what is transpiring. The idea behind the storytelling element appeals to me, but the gruff black metal vocals oftentimes make it difficult to understand the events taking place. So I frequentlty felt left with just the music to set the mood. Fortunately on that level there was enough to pull me in. The music has a wide range of styles and the blend is rough, but I think that is intentional to show the conflict between the warring parties. The music maintains a certain power and beauty at the same time. Not an album I could to listen to every day, but I see myself listening to this one a few more times this winter.