Troldhaugen- Obzkure Anekdotez for Maniakal Massez

     Let me paint the picture for you. Its nearing the end of 2014, I'm amidst listening to albums to compile my end of year metal list. So as always I do a ton of research and digging to make sure I haven't missed anything. Lo and behold I happen upon a release that sparks my interest. Namely Troldhaugen and with an album title like this I had to see what this was about. Let me tell you ahead of time that it was well worth it. What we have is a mix of Avant-Garde and folk metal that may well be my album of the year.
    This album is killer. Its a very bizarre experience to listen to and there's a lot going on instrumentally, lyrically and vocally. Lyrically the title of this album is appropriate for what we have is a compilation of really obscure and crazy stories. Some of these include a man who goes to a town amidst a famine, begins robbing their graves and making I guess jerky or something out of it and sells it to the townspeople.  Another includes a couple who goes for the ride of their life into hell itself.  They even have one about the chupa cabra. Lyrically everything flows really well and is quite well written. Vocally you have a lot of diversity, from shrill shrieks to almost silly sounding vocals and even some choir-like choruses.
    Instrumentally this album is all over the place. The best way I could describe it is avant-garde carnival music mixed with folk metal. It's very upbeat for the most part and has a lot of melody. Its not a very dissonant album it's just very strange. It has so much going on that its honestly hard to describe it. Its definitely experimental and that's as much as I can say definitively. These people are very proficient players. The songs have a lot of complexity and they are able to create a perfect balance between all the instruments.
   So in conclusion this album is one that is undefinable genre wise and the name pretty much does it justice in telling you what you're in for. It's an album that is innovative, musically and lyrically sound, and it has very few flaws if any. Its an out of this world trip to some insane mythical land of obscure maniacal craziness in music form and its fucking amazing. That's my take on this....FUCKING AMAZING.
   99/100