Vreid - 'Milorg'

An often overlooked band makes a bold musical statement.

After a few spins of Vreid’s Milorg, I was left with one glaring question: why have I overlooked this band and why aren’t they on my routine play list? Milorg is an absolute beast of an album a concept record based on Norwegian resistance to the German occupation during World War II. While some revisionist racist tools think the Nazi occupation was a good thing that would speed up Odin’s arrival, Vreid sides with the average Norwegians oppressed during the war. And they do it in convincing musical fashion with expertly written blackened metal with infectious riffs and an occasional folk touch.

Vreid was formed by the members of Windir after the death of vocalist Valfar. Since then, they’ve toiled in the shadows of their better-known predecessor. It’s almost like the black metal version of the Joy Division-New Order storyline. New Order was producing memorable music throughout the 1980s, yet it took years for them to shake the shadow of vocalist Ian Curtis, who committed suicide just as the band began to take off.

Vreid will now be able to step completely out of the shadows. Milorg has it all: the soaring guitar solos of “Disciplined;” the cosmic riffs, burly bass tones and completely earnest vocals of “Speak Goddamnit” and the boot-stomping churn of “Heroes & Villains.” There are some touches of Enslaved, but this album is in no way derivative. A more apt comparison would be to countrymates Emperor. There’s so much variety and musical depth that’s it’s almost an understatement to classify this as straight black metal. There’s something here for fans of any type of metal.

You can almost picture a backwoods Norwegian kicking the crap out of an SS officer as you listen to this album, especially after you take a good look at the cover art. Vreid may have formed five years ago, but has truly arrived with Milorg.