Dr. Frank's What's-it

Found Sound

Regular readers know that, like a lot of people, I collect "found" stuff. Usually that means written material, like letters, notes, shopping lists, that sort of thing, though it can include photos and other anomalous objects as well. Over the years, I've amassed a pretty decent collection, and I've posted some of it here from time to time.

It's rare that music figures in these finds, but here's one in which it does:

So I'm walking through my local cemetery (Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland - it's a great place to walk and a fun place to hang out in) and I notice the sun reflecting off something in the mud. It turns out to be an unlabelled CDR. Nearby, there is a single tracklist page from a SONY CDR package:

On the other side of the page, in off-kilter psychotic-looking lettering, it says: "rivendell" and "riven" curving down and to the right:

I wasn't sure the CDR would play. It was covered in mud and kind of scratched. However, I cleaned it off and was able to play it. It began with an ethereal recorder played over an acoustic guitar strumming some crazily not-usually-played-within-the-key minor chords. We're talking "Stairway to Heaven"-style here. Soon synths and martialistic drums came in, taking us more into Black Sabbath territory. Track 2 began the same way, with the recorder/synth/acoustic Renaissance Faire-ish sound with the same music theory-defying minor chords where you least expect them; then came the drums and heavy guitars. A Cookie Monster vocal alternates with some Wizard of Oz Monkey-style chanting and it all becomes more traditionally black metal-ish from that point on.

Well, after some googling, I'm pretty sure that this is the CD I've been listening to: The Ancient Glory by Rivendell. Info:

Just like the name and the song-titles imply, the Austrian one-man-project RIVENDELL is taking on JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings". And looking at the fact that they are signed to Skaldic Art, the musical direction already is almost given as well, as it is the label of Vratyas Vakyas, mastermind of FALKENBACH.

Hence the solitary member Falagar is following their trail, but without being a pure copy, varied vocals, melody-leading keyboards and compositions, which partly are deeply rooted in Black Metal, but then also having folky intrusions, make sure of that.

It also appears on this list of Awesome Heavy Metal Worth Buying by one Jaron, Professional Musician.

It just goes to show how it pays to notice what's lying around on the ground. If I hadn't been looking, I would have gone to my grave never having heard the crazy chord progressions of "Aragorn Son of Arathorn," or "Durin's Halls" by Rivendell. And I never would have known about the Oakland Middle-Earth Elf-rocker who "still has some more receds," but, somehow, lost one of them at the Mountain View Cemetery. I would love to know the story behind that, though I'm sure I never will.

(Cross-posted at suicidegirls/news.)

Posted by Dr. Frank at June 16, 2005 12:58 AM | TrackBack