RED WARSZAWA — De 4 årstider i Nordvest (review)

RED WARSZAWA — De 4 årstider i Nordvest album cover

Album · 2010 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2011-06-16
UMUR

"De 4 årstider i Nordvest" is the 6th full-length studio album by Danish heavy metal/ thrash metal act Red Warszawa. The album was released in March 2010 by Gusten Fætter Records. "De 4 årstider i Nordvest" is a Danish language title and translates into "The 4 Seasons in Northwest". In combination with the trailer trash cover artwork it´s a spoof on the Copenhagen Northwest area which many Danes consider to be a trailer trash area in Copenhagen and of course Vivaldi´s "The 4 Seasons". It´s an area in Copenhagen with a relatively high criminal rate, many people on welfare income and the home of a large number of boozers and drug addicts. I remember my cousin, who used to live there, said that he often heard shots fired and a couple of times while he lived there cars were set on fire. This might not sound like much for people coming from other more unstable countries, but in Denmark things like that don´t happen very often. As always a reference like that coming from Red Warszawa, is delivered with a gleam in the eye and a humourous angle.

The music on "De 4 årstider i Nordvest" pretty much follows the same formula that Red Warszawa have followed since the early nineties. Their trademark blend of traditional heavy metal, thrash, groove metal, crossover and punk with ridiculously silly lyrics about anything from odd sexual subjects, drugs, beer and metal, is by now an institution on the Danish metal scene. One of the things that has gotten better with the years is the musicianship. The sometimes sloppy playing and raw production values of the early albums are gone. The band are tight and well playing on this album, and the production by guitarist Henning Nymand is actually pretty well sounding and powerful.

As on most Red Warszawa albums there are some absolutely killer tracks on "De 4 årstider i Nordvest". Tracks like "Sut den onde numse" ("Suck the Evil Butt"), "Vi er generationen der ikke må heile" ("We are the Generation that are not allowed to Heil"), "Spil den med Satan" ("Play the one with Satan"), "Hyldest til møgfisserne" ("An Ode to the Filthy Cunts") and especially the highlight of the album for me (I´m completely floored while laughing my ass off to this one) "Karry" ("Curry"). The latter has some pretty politically incorrect lyrics about a man called Mr. Madsen who goes to Nepal every year to buy boys he can fuck, but he is accidently discovered by a collegue from his workplace in Denmark and has to stay in Nepal, because his life in Denmark is ruined. While the subject matter is serious enough (and lead vocalist Lækre Jens announces in the song that Mr. Madsen should have his ass kicked for his deeds), the lyrics are delivered in such a hilarious fashion that it´s hard not to think it´s funny. The addition of keyboards in that song works really well and the Rammstein like heavy and angular main riff and the oriental lead guitar melody, just works wonders IMO. Definitely one of the best tracks written by Red Warszawa so far.

Besides the killer tracks (I mentioned some of them above) there are also a couple of more standard tracks on the album and of course also a couple of the shorter children´s songs with nasty and bizarre lyrics that Red Warszawa always have on their albums. My entertainment level varies but I´m never bored.

"De 4 årstider i Nordvest" is a pretty good album by Red Warszawa and I´d actually place it among their best output and a 3.5 star rating is warranted. Like the case is with all their releases they will probably not appeal much to anyone but Danes, as much of the band´s charm is found in the lyrics, which are all in the Danish language.