ALRUNE ROD

Wow! That's what I thought when I finally heard Alrune Rod. Hailing from the same country as them, and having close ties to people who were members of the rock same music community/culture as Alrune Rod (and because of their status as psych rock pioneers in Denmark), I was aware of them, but being too young perhaps, I'd never listened to their music. When I finally got a hold on their debut album, I was struck by its dark athmosphere and intensity, which makes this album an interesting, but not an easy, listen. The vocals are primarily theatrical and not extremely melodi (this doesn't mean that the singing in atonal at all), and the vocals are very intense and dark, dealing with what seems to the psychological analogies partially inspired by Romanticist poetry and literature - but, honestly, I don't know if listeners who do not understand Danish are really missing out on anything here - my guess is that this albums is probably a tad easier to get one's head around if one does not have to worry about the lyrics too. This is an interesting album - nay, a good album - but it may take time to get one's head around.