Conor Fynes 'Trollskogen' - Sapfhier (5/10)

The enigmatic sound of black metal is one that attracts many musicians and artists. The little-known one man band Sapfier is one such story of one Lord Aganaroth (also known as Mattias Bjorklund). Playing in a familiar ambient black metal style on this first demo, Sapfhier creates a sound that will be instantly recognizable as being influenced by some of the legendary Scandinavian black metal acts. 'Trollskogen's focus on atmospheric keyboards makes more a mildly entertaining dive into a world of trees, fog, and low production values.

My first impression with 'Trollskogen' is that Sapfhier is worshiping Burzum through their music. Unlike early Bathory or Mayhem- or most other legendary black metal musicians- Burzum's sound was often more subdued and ambient, and this is something that rides high throughout 'Trollskogen'. The most notable element of Sapfhier's sound is a heavy usage of the keyboard, providing arboreal textures to work melodies into the music. The guitars are pleasantly lo-fi, tracing previously done chord structures, without dishing out much in the way of intensity. Aganaroth's vocals follow a similar format to the guitars; subdued and atmospheric, yet unable to hold my interest.

The only poor element of Sapfhier are the electronic drums, which are programmed pretty weakly. Although I'm never outright impressed by the performance or songwriting, everything fits warmly into a black metal niche. That is, except for the drums. Given that this is a demo, many of these faults can be expected and excused, but the drums hurt what would otherwise be a fairly well-executed ambient black metal release. Sapfhier's 'Trollskogen' was re-released in 2005 with a better sound quality, so I can hope that some of the issues were fixed. As my copy of the demo stands however, I'm left feeling rather lukewarm.