Review by Felix on June 13, 2019.

A split album is always a nice thing, but don't ask me why I bought this one. I had never heard a single note of both bands before and I had never read any interviews with them or anything else. I guess their Norwegian origin was reason enough for me to become active. Forgive me for being so superficial. 

Due to the fact that the band from Stavanger never released any other work, Galdreroffer their entire repertoire here. Don't be fooled by five titles, because they include an intro and an outro. Both are, to express it politely, not among the most necessary tracks in the history of rock music. This applies as well to the regular songs of the formation, because thrilling moments are missing. I wish the somewhat sleepy dudes would put the pedal to the metal from time to time. Especially the dreary "Ferdatokt" does not convince due its powerless appearance. The guitar work of the following tracks conveys a meaner feeling, but I wish I could kick the musicians in the ass in order to vitalize them. Apart from this deviancy, Galdrer play their part in a proper way. The songs have an authentic touch and sound neither primitive nor over-complex. Finally, the audio quality has nothing in common with questionable doctrines of the underground. All in all, Galdrer are somewhere between disappointing and developable - 60%.

Hailing from a 5.000-inhabitants-village, Ulvhedner have been more productive than their split partner. They open Ferdasyn / Trolldomsanger with a handful of mid-harsh, sometimes almost folkloric songs. Their most outstanding feature are the fine melodies. They avoid any form of schmaltz, but they give the tracks a pretty harmonic touch. "Sanitorium" must be mentioned in this context in view of its excellent, airy melody line. Even the opener, which has some fast, straight and vehement parts, does not neglect the melodic side of the formation. Maybe bands like Svartahrid or very early Gehenna have been an influence for the mid-paced compositions of Ulvhedner. Be that as it may, the level of harshness is comparable. The scratchy vocals constitute an important factor for the Scandinavian horde to show its harsher facet, although every now and then heroic vocals show up. Everything is put into the right light by a solid production that gives the tracks a stable outfit. Okay, the fourth track is slightly weaker than the first trio and the ambient closer of Ulvhedner's contribution is acceptable at best, but from my point of view, 72% is the appropriate rating.

In a nutshell, if you have an affinity for unknown combos, pretty crude split albums and Nordic sounds, this one is for you. Both formations don't lack integrity and therefore you don't make a mistake when buying this output. Nevertheless, let me be honest enough to say that it is anything but a must-have-album.

Rating: 6.6 out of 10

Review by Vanass on April 11, 2020.

Vaar is one of the phenomena in metal with no known history or reason to believe that the project will lead to something as great as this short release. It didn't take more than two seconds to convince me that this is a great album that you have to listen to from the beginning to the end.

The first track 'As Dusk Fell' is simply an explosion of different sensations. What surprised even me as a fan of atmospheric black metal is how fast the riffs are in the beginning. The main riff is simply a beautifully executed piece of melancholic art that develops into something that you could call euphoric or happy. The whole EP has several connections to the post-black metal or blackgaze sound; the major chords and the resulting happy melodies. But the high-quality characteristic of it is that despite the fact that the atmosphere is not openly melancholic, the overall sound is quite cold, which can be attributed to the relatively raw production. The man behind this project has the ability to write incredible riffs that simply feel fresh, although their origin is quite obvious at times.

Another thing that characterizes this release are the acoustic parts. They are kept simple, don't last too long and certainly have a rational place in the structure of the songs. Nevertheless, I would say that they are one of the weaker aspects of this whole release. There is just too much contrast between the fuzzy fast or mid-tempo riffs and the slow acoustic parts, which would actually be quite pleasant if they were all separate tracks. The second track 'Wounded Roots' is a nice example of an acoustic track that fits perfectly into the album as a whole.

The drum sound just suits the music and dictates a perfect tempo for the guitars. Although the main focus is on the guitars, the drums magnify the atmosphere almost perfectly; I can't say that the beats are too complex or have too many variations, instead, they accompany the riffs and deepen the trance caused by the melodies, thus keeping their intended function. The slow and simple drumbeats during the acoustic parts are also very pleasant and improve them considerably.

This album is mainly instrumental, but the vocals on the first track are just amazing; incredibly high, raw and rooted in DSBM. Should the future releases contain more vocal parts, something very interesting could come out of it and certainly intensify the melancholic side of the concept.

The bad thing about this album is that it simply suffers from the same weakness as the majority of atmospheric black metal. The melodies and the atmosphere may be incredibly attractive at the first impression, and when you start to fall into a trance-like state by listening to the same riff over and over again, the songs become quite predictable, and the effect of the atmosphere starts to lose its initial impact. No doubt this album has a lot of replay quality, it is just unique and complex enough to captivate you.

Nevertheless, this is a pretty strong release that has taken me through various emotional states and thrown me into an imaginary forest, and it has definitely fulfilled its purpose as an atmospheric black metal album. It may have its weaker parts, but the overall atmosphere and amazing riffs certainly justify the artistic value of this album. So, I would undoubtedly recommend this album to all fans of atmospheric and post-black metal or anyone who is curious enough.

Therefore I would say that the wisest thing to do would be to stop reading this review and start listening to this piece immediately.

Rating: 8 out of 10