VIRUS „Carheart”

This was THE surprise of last year for me. Carheart is the debut recording for Virus, which in fact is the new project by Carl-Michael Eide's of 'Ved Buens Ende' fame. Do not let that misguide you. This is not a black metal album by any means! The best way to describe this would be to position this as a mix of unorthodox metal like 'Voivod', quirky dark rock like the 'Talking Heads', complex structures of prog acts like 'Opeth' and the haunting atmospheres of later 'Ulver' and 'Arcturus'. Now that is one hell of a mix if you ask me! Virus pulls it off without a glitch and creates an interesting journey through psychedelic rock and metal. The journey though not straightforward is very satisfying. The reason I say that it is not straightforward is the fact that the record is not easy to comprehend fully. It is accessible enough to give it a casual spin and your mother would probably not baulk at you playing it at her candle-lit dinner (a slight exaggeration 😉 ). The deeper, hidden layers of the music are not quite as readily accessible though.

The music is complex and layered and uses a variety of electronic effects on both the vocals and the instruments. Occasionally an unusual mechanistic sounding vocal is employed adding a little darkness and pain to the mix. There are no traditional riff-repeat-bridge-riff-repeat song structures these are instead replaced by complex compositions each building up to its own climax. The lyrical content and the artwork are at the very least odd. They hearken back to acid driven tips of yesteryear but still manage to maintain their contemporary feel. The lyrics are intensely enigmatic and I am still having trouble figuring out their meaning a lot of the time. They certainly are a welcome departure from some of the rather uninspired 'Satan this, demon that' lyrics.

Some interesting snippets of lyrical content:
     Tender touch of the gasoline queen.
     Deafening roar of the engine.
     Regain consciousness as the sun is reddening.
     Sirens make the air coagulate.

Now is that an acid trip or what? I suddenly see a vision of Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and Mr.Fonda on their motorbikes ;-). But this is certainly no hippie record!

I strongly urge anyone willing to experiment with new music and artists to give this record a try. This is not experimentation for experimentation's sake…it works! And works very well! I am willing to incur your wrath if you find this to be crap if only you get to check this out! I seriously find this to be one of the most original works since I spent my days as a zygote.

note: 11/10