Draugsang - Seil Pa Skyggans Hav
Northern Silence Productions
Melancholic Black Metal
3 songs (18'36")
Release year: 2005
Northern Silence, Northern Silence
Reviewed by Alex
Surprise of the month

It is that time of the year – to get a nasty head cold, run into business problems, get depressed and start roaming far away less known labels for rare kvlt material. The question would be what to choose amidst the plethora of underground releases? In the case of Northern Silence Productions I decided to go with what was close to the heart of the label’s main proprietor Norghash. Apparently, in the case of Draugsang the secluded Norwegians were convinced to re-master and release for the world to see some songs available before only as mp3s. Recording quality aside, but actually the re-mastering had provided the sound with a hell of a lift, Seil Pa Skyggans Hav, is one superb 3-song MCD exuding the sound of melancholy out of every pore of its private, black-and-white minimalistic cover art, body.

The title track begins very similar to the recently re-released Silencer Death – Pierce Me. Here we have a quiet acoustic melody with bass adding to the riff and pressed down wheezing voice. When primitive double bass/prominent cymbal drumming (machine) and cutting blurry guitar add to the mix, the vocals, as if coming from behind the thick window pane, or impenetrable sheet of ice, remain no less desperate, in their unrequited cry for help. Cleaner sounding chorus and otherworldly voice at the song’s end give Seil Pa Skyggans Hav almost a religious feeling.

Alt Hap E Tapt is probably the most melancholic despair ridden track I have heard in a while. Brief soundtrack of thousand horse hooves leads into a supermelodic flow going in and out of distortion. The melody in this song is unbelievable, it is being traced throughout, with the rest of the track hanging around this massive sorrowful core. This is one roar of the howling soul, there is simply no other way to put it.

Svartskjaer is a later addition track, more Norse, more masculine and more Bathory. It does not project, however, the same level of despair the rest of the MCD radiates, and thus in my countless recent Draugsang spins I tend to concentrate on the first two.

Draugsang has taken its name from the “song of Draugen”, the ghost who was singing to fisherman at sea, as they were about to die. In memory of Trygve Hagensen, some unfortunate who passed away at the unbelievably short age of 28, two individuals, Antik and Orv, joined forces to create Seil Pa Skyggans Hav. The future of the band is covered with the cloud of uncertainty, but if there will be another release by Draugsang, ever, count me among the first sending the hard earned cash to hear it.

Killing Songs :
Seil Pa Skyggans Hav, Alt Hap E Tapt
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