Composer/Musician Reacts to VILDHJARTA - Den Helige Anden (REACTION!!!)
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- čas přidán 19. 03. 2020
- Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on VILDHJARTA - Den Helige Anden (Album Track)
ORIGINAL VIDEO: • VILDHJARTA - Den Helig...
Patreon: www.patreon.com/criticalreactions
Twitter: critreactions
A little "count-along" for those who are as confused as I am:
1:51 - 4/4 - 88 bpm
2:33 - 4/4 - Deccelerando
2:36 - 6/8 + 8/8 + 6/8 + 5/8 - 84 bpm
2:47 - 4/4
3:53 - Deccelerando
3:56 - 4/4 - 72 bpm
4:21 - 9/8
4:22 - 4/4 - 84 bpm
4:56 - 2/4 + 4/4 + 1/4
5:06 - 4/4
5:24 - 4/4 + 7/8 - 87 bpm
5:34 - 4/4
6:44 - 3/8
6:45 to 7:15 - 4/4
I tried to count "everything" as 4/4 with the main accents on 2 and 4. Everything is ridiculously slow, so I counted 4/4 as 1 & 2 & ... & 7 & 8 etc.
As a drummer, I only concentrated on the drums. The snare hits are almost consistently on 2 and 4 throughout the entire song.
Please comment on any errors I made!
Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. It's really enlightening to see just how much of the song plays in 4/4 just with syncopation that creates odd time-feels.
@@CriticalReactions You're very welcome. I enjoy understanding complex measures.
I think as a drummer it's easier to ignore the multi-layered polyrhythmic guitar work and just stick to the drums... All the "background" stuff is way over my head, but I can count my drums :D
I've known a few drummers and their ability to separate rhythmic ideas from the underlying heartbeat of the song is unreal. It's like a totally different way of thinking.
You are the real MVP, thanks dude!
Awesome work, friend! Very much appreciated.
That moment when 90% of the song is 4/4
Haha I had the exact same thought as you.
En redig fläskfärs till låt!
I literally came here to comment this lol, also thanks for the NTM session, you're a beast of a human. (For those of you who don't know, Buster is the drummer for Vildhjarta)
Soooo when's that new album coming out?
Why do you do this to us Buster lol
How confusing can you make a 4/4 meter?
Vildhjarta: Yes.
The more you listen to Vildhjarta, the more you'll love their music. It grows with more listens and begins to make more sense musically.
I'm new to this journey and I'm loving it already
Last night, I was thinking of how cool it would be to see a Vildhjarta reaction, but I doubted it would happen. It's not even my birthday.
Edit: He used disgusting as a compliment. One of us. One of us. One of us.
You've got the pronunciation completely wrong. It's pronounced "Thall"
Rozjebem What is?
THALL
T H A L L
T|H|A|L|L
Dead on. Their blatant disregard for typical phrasing, use of silence, odd accents, and crossing the bar line is wild. It makes their precision that much more ridiculous.
Yeah hard agree here. They’re like if Meshuggah snorted some cocaine, skinny dipped in a pool, did meth in the car ride back home, and then wrote this song.
LOTS of stuff crossing the bar
Awesome! I appreciate you doing this one. Vildhjarta is pure arthouse music. It's not something that's a workout jam, it's something you listen to and ponder.
When I first heard them back in 2013 my initial reaction was it's just a bunch of random nonsense, but then my buddy made me listen through their entire masstaden album and something just clicked.
They can somehow produce a semblance of emotion (usually melancholy), that escapes the chaos and isn't fully lost in translation.
I've seen them live once in NYC and they are extremely tight. In the age of computers I get skeptical of alot of modern band's ability to perform live, but I can tell you from first hand knowledge that Vildhjarta can to an extremely high level.
My comparison to Dali was some of what you outlined in the video, but also based on just the definition of surrealism. Surrealism is defined as a movement in art that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the seemingly irrational juxtaposition of images. Replace images with sound and it sounds alot like Vildhjarta.
Dali was a surrealism artist who often used bizzare and striking images in his work. It's only a comparison, but I feel like it's a warranted one. He took concepts and conventions that were normal and organized them in a completely abnormal way, and in doing so created a whole piece that was more than the sum of it's parts. I feel Vildhjarta does that with music.
I apologise for the essay, I just love this band and feel they are under recognized for how revolutionary they are to metal. Maybe revolutionary is the wrong word, but I can't think of an apt one.
Revolutionary is entirely apt. The sonic landscape that they can manifest is often incomparable to anything else out there.
Practically had an identical experience to yourself. After being forced through Vildhjarta's instrumental version of Masstaden, years after my first contact with their sound, really exposed the ingenuity that they present. It's almost as if the music is extant in a platonic form, and the band members just stumble upon the ideas.
Sorry for quite a hippyfied ramble but jeez their discography is the closest thing to 'transcendent' out there xD
I’ve listened to some of their stuff earlier in my metal journey and didn’t “get it”. Really enjoyed this song and will be exploring more of their work this week.
I, of course, love listening but also reading about the artists and their intentions. Do you have any recommendations??
@@ckokomo808 I would start with their masstaden album. Each songs flows into the next, it's quite the experience. They only have 2 albums and a few singles so there's not many options. Their new album should be coming out this year tho. This song on this video is from their upcoming album.
Other bands I would definitely check out are Sybreed (anything from their Antares album), gojira, opeth, humanities last breath. Those are some of my favorites.
@@ckokomo808 here's a snippet of part of an interview they did with Circlepit-
Daniel Bergstrom (the guitarist, regarding concepts on political or religious stances) - We have involved all of those concepts but we havent singled any of them out and focused on it. I dont really see us doing an album about war, or displaying some political stance or religion hatred. We just analyze it, accept it and try to leave it eventually, we try not to tell people what to do and how to think in the things we write about. Music is the dance of emotions and you have to be thoughtful with it.
@@ckokomo808 but in all honestly they are quite a cult, in the way that it is impossible to find much information about them and they're approach to artistry.
If I may, I'd add to the suggestion to listen to perhaps the instrumental versions as well to really unpack the music
Their "Måsstaden" album is without a doubt one of the best metal albums of all time! You should indeed check out The Lone Deranger or Deceit from it, or any other track for that matter
Should be listened in its entirety.
This x1000
@@2scrimble9 Shadow was my entry into Djent, and still a goddamn Masterpiece :D
Dagger and Eternal Golden Monk fucks HARD
My pocket watch melted while it was playing.
music: does a thing
reactor: wow, it did a thing, really liked it
Their name represents the music they make perfectly. Vildhjarta means "wild heart".
Damn, I’d forgotten how lovely this song was in the time since I`d requested it. Great insight as always Bryan, Ive got a feeling youll be getting into more Thall soon.
It's so cool to hear someone who isn't necessarily into this kind of music talk about it in such a thought-out, respectful, and detailed way. As metalheads, I'm sure we're all sick of people immediately dismissing this complex genre of music because - according to them - the vocalists are "shouting all the time" and it "just sounds like noise".
Not only is it nice to hear a non-metal head talk about this music in such a nuanced way, but it's also nice to see him discovering the "odd timing" that characterises this style of music.
If you're into this kind of music (Djent, Thall, or whatever you want to call it), I'm sure you will remember the time you first heard it. I'm willing to bet you couldn't understand it, just like Bryan. Maybe it even really DID sound like noise to you (I admit, that was my first reaction to Meshuggah). But I'm sure you remembered the moment when it finally "clicked", and you thought "oh my God, this has completely changed my perspective on music".
Bryan is in the first stage. He can appreciate it, but it hasn't quite "clicked" for him yet. Bryan, if you keep listening to this kind of music, you will experience the moment when it "clicks" - and your appreciation for it will grow TENFOLD.
The song that did it for me was Meshuggah's Rational Gaze. It took me quite a few listens to "get it", but once I did I embarked on this whole "djent" journey and never looked back (that is, until all the bands started sounding the same lol). I don't know if you've had a listen to Meshuggah, but check them out if you haven't. Anyway, nice video man!
Thanks for the lengthy reply. You've definitely hit the nail on the head regarding a lot of different kinds of music that are difficult to get into -- everything from Djent to Bebop. I have checked out Meshuggah before but I'm not much a fan yet. If you'd like to see that reaction the song was Clockworks. czcams.com/video/sF7gcEksQ6k/video.html
Yees! This one is sick dude, i got hyped when i saw the notification
You’re the man! You always bring interesting insight and an appreciation for the music, even if it’s not entirely your cup of tea. Take care, friend.
The is just pronounced like "y", vild-yarta is I guess the closest approximation.
to me it is like "veeld-hyartah"
The actual word is Vildhjärta, ä being pronounced like a high ae and the h being silent. It's spoken like Vild-Jaerta
@@Puckosar I imagined, I said it like a norwegian because it is the language I am basing myself when pronouncing Scandinavian words lol
@@leoaraujo8590 You wouldn't pronounce the H in Norwegian either.
@@Metalheadyup its not a h like the american "home", it's hard to describe
You should definitely check out humanity's last breath too, I'm pretty sure some members from vildhjarta. The song I recommend is Vanda off the abyssal album. Incredibly heavy stuff obviously but really sick
Same drummer / mixer and one of the same guitarists. Vildhjarta has been around for a while and Buster Odeholm started Humanity's Last Breath to sound like them. He then managed to make his way officially into his favorite band and now also mixes the music.
@@Slamadeus The drummer of Vildhjarta is the guitarist in HLB and engineer of both (running Impact Studios), although most writing in Vildhjarta is Bergström, most in HLB is Buster. If your into this, also scheck out stoort neer, that's Calle from Vildhjarta
VIldhjarta's drummer plays guitar for Humanity's Last Breath
@@630171official funny he's the same engineer since I feel like HLB has better engineering than Vildhjarta (minus their new album)
Or Fradga is killer too
Vildhjarta is one of my favorite bands, thanks for giving them a fair chance. I'd suggest you listen to Car Bomb next for more rhythmic craziness
w^w^w^^w^w^w^^ or whatever that "waveforms" album is spelled as, is by far some of the most hair brain rhythmic ideas put to a recording, Elliot really pushed the bar on that release.
Kinda hope they ditch the restrained sense of maturity the last 2 LPs have focused on and go back to the 'hang on by your pinky' time-signature madness found on Waveforms or Centralia. It felt a bit too Thrash metal-esque on the last LP too (though I never have been a fan of thrash, so simply an opinion).
Stoked you did a video on it and liked it bud! been my favorite band since 2008/2009 haha
This is the first reaction video that has actually been fully entertaining to me. I've never seen anybody experience Vildhjarta for the first time before. The constant "wtf is going on" followed by confused approval is so funny to watch.
really enjoyed that reaction. Thanks for listening to the recommendation and I'm really glad you liked it. Even if you wont listen to it in a regular basis.
Septic Flesh - Sangreal
Some sweet symphonic metal. Their album Communion is full of this awesomeness.
Harish Chivukula Communion is an absolute classic, far as I’m concerned!
I predict you will be at 50k subs in three months.
Your videos are excellent.
Now that we are doing swedish again, let's do Freak Kitchen! :D
Great review, nice to see someone fully realizing the technicality of Vildhjarta!!
Hey man! Love your work and how in depth you go on the tracks afterwards. I'd love to see you talk about some Tauk or Nova Collective!
The thing that always stuck out to me about Vildhjarta - and what I love about their music - is that many of their riffs have this double edge to them. The combinations of low-mid-high-pitch notes/chords just adds an additional angle to the already angular sense of time relative to the 4/4 that it's (mostly) in.
You hit on the main point I wanted to, and that was the anchor being the clean guitar.
I'd imagine live there's a lot of that in the monitors.
Some questions:
1) How do you think this music is composed? Around the clean guitar as it anchors things tonically and perhaps rhythmically? I've also wondered if these things are formed largely around the vocals?
2) Can you speak more to the harmonic features of this kind of music? It's really angular, and doesn't seem to have much of a chord progression, or form, but I'm interested if you are able to discern something I can't?
3) Do you think modern recording techniques allow for this excessive level of abstraction from traditional forms of composing? The ability to do extremely tight syncopations, track where you are visually so recording on parts is easier? Mapping them out on a piano roll and learning them after composing them in a DAW, etc?
Also, if you like this stuff and Meshuggah, you would really like Car Bomb, and there are plenty of live videos of them being absolutely bad-ass which is really the kicker for me, pulling it off live.
Anyways, I'm really excited to pore through all your videos.
Cheers! Stay safe! Stay healthy!
If I were composing this I would certainly come up with a general idea of the song and then start with the foundation (the clean guitar, in this instance) and then build the song up from there. So yeah, I'd anchor everything around the clean guitar as it contains the core, the soul, of the song.
I'd have to give this a few more listens to answer your question about harmonic identity. You're correct about the harmonic ideas being obtuse or difficult to follow but I'd be surprised if there wasn't some type of progression going on underneath all of the complexity.
And I do think that modern recording allows groups/musicians to more easily create complex songs like this. That isn't a crutch since most groups will still need to perform it live, but not needing to record it in one take is a huge benefit. And the ability to "clean things up in post" means that the margin for error, and thus the time invested, is a lot lower. This basically removes a lot of the frustrations with trying to record something like this the old way. So I wouldn't say that modern recording techniques *allow* for this type of music, but it does facilitate it as well as reduce the barrier of entry to making it. After all, many jazz and classical groups were recording hyper complex stuff decades ago.
Loved the commentary
It’s amazing to me how on a single listen you were able to catch so much.
Back in grade school I had a very passionate music teacher who instilled music listening skills in me. He was one of those teachers that we hated at the time for being mean or too tough but in retrospect he was our best teacher and really pushed us to be our best. Ever since then I've always enjoyed listening, really listening, to music. It's a skill I've developed over decades.
If i had to guess, sounds like mostly 8/4 with a couple bars of 6/4 sprinkled in. Mostly 8/4 and anemic layering like you said. Never heard of them until today, but liked other videos of yours. Will have to check them out now. Subbed man :)
I agree about the clean guitar working as a reference. I could only figure out when the heavy guitars come in after the first clean section by counting the clean section itself.
Please react to Pangaea - Survivors Guilt for something really cool and heavy prog metal. Also Persefone - The Majestic of Gaia for some amazing progressive melodic death metal.
Marius Ellingsen they had one of my favorite albums of 2019...had never heard of them, it really loved all the different elements they threw together.
Just found this channel and MASHING that subscribe button OMFG
I've learnt this song on guitar and I can say that... I think... its all 4/4 HAHA the funny thing is that the parts I'm not sure are 4/4 are not the messy sounding ones. The whole final part which was the demo they released some months ago is entirely 4/4, but for example that quintuplet(?) after a long silence is played after the 7th beat, but not right after, there is like a semichrochet or something between the beat and the start of the quintuplet, so yeah, after figuring it out and being able to play it fine, I still ask myself why just like you.
N. W. Artist this guys gets it.
Literally all 4/4
"Why?" - "THALL"
the last little set of chugs caught him off guard, but he was still trying to expect something there (was probably looking at the video length)
YAAAAASS VILDHJARTA FINALLY!!!
Lmao love this reaction. THALLLLLL
Follow the backbeat and listen to the guitar and kick dance around it. Its almost all 4/4 just with wacky syncopation and very long phrases. You cant use the riffs as the anchor point when they hardly repeat.
Alcest - Protection
I'd be very interested to see what you think of Septicflesh - Anubis, or The Vampire from Nazareth.
Great song, great reaction.
Awsome 🤘
I know you did Of Matter, but you should do more Tesseract! The videos are much less likely to be blocked if you do a song from Polaris or Sonder because they now have a less strict label, Kscope. Hexes or Tourniquet or King would be awesome.
More Tesseract? No arguments here ;P
I think the problems and questions you have about timing with this band is answered in the probability that they play to a click. Sure the timing is crazy and chaotic but if practiced to a click enough everyone can understand the song in time. especially if the song is in 4/4 most of the time
Rewatching this for the 3rd time cuz no one analyzes the same lol and I crave it
Don't even get me started on Car Bomb...
I know this is unlikely to get picked up but I'd really like to see you review the album The Quantum Hack Code by Amogh Symphony
also be nice to see you react to some Chon
Another song in playlist, i have so many hahahaha
Back again. Please react to more vildjharta. I'm dying.
Yea. There is two vocalist. Seen them live years ago. They were crazy good.
One vocalist left the band
Saw them last year at tech fest and they only had one vocalist
Cool video, just discovered your chanel. Would love to hear your thoughts on Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Age Of Vulture Culture
I would love to see your reaction to Ater's ''Denial'' or ''Epiphany''. Insanely heavy, similarly stank-face inducing as Vildhjarta, though they're an instrumental band. Still, sick stuff!
Next step from here would be Car Bomb, maybe something from either off their three lasts albums
It's just very polyrhythms over 4/4 time. The tempo does change at times though.
"Vildi-yarta" Wild Heart.
Polyrhythms are nuts bro.
I'd like to request Liturgy - God of Love
Really the whole HAQQ album is worth a listen but you probably only have time for one.
I think you should react to Cleric- The Treme. All of their songs are pretty wild though.
Well funny you say 'Chaos' upcoming album is called KAOS 2
Just wonderful is what I think!
(And the Dali reference might be due to absurdity don't you think?...)
Do you always have your ceiling fan on when you record videos?
Unfortunately yes. Where I live it's simply too hot to turn it off, especially with the computer running. For a standard 15-20 minute video I'd be sweating well before I was finished recording.
Ahh wasn't expecting you to reply directly, now I don't know what to say....Perhaps you should do a video of Converge _ Concubine
You're the first person to recommend that group so I'm glad this conversation happened. I hope to get to it soon but the list just passed 400 unique bands!
You got Vild...rta pretty right, the hja is for english speakers probably best explained with "y'all"
Check out Clinically Correct by Yugen. If this is like Salvador Dali made metal, then that is like if Marcel Duchamp and Hugo Ball combined made music in general.
THALL 🔥 🌎
Review the ENTIRE album!
IM ALIVE AND NOT EVEN DEAD. HAIR LOOKING SHARP
LOL, my friend showed me this song two days ago XD
Please react to (Car bomb: Gratitude)
You should definetely check out Tool - Pneuma drum cam with Danny Carey. That man is a beast!
You should check out Humanitys Last Breath also, I think its the other project of Vildhjartas drummer, kinda in the same vein but more death metally and less meshuggah'ish :D
"This song has no sense of time"
If that were a genre, that would be where you would put VILDHJARTA
Järvi said what I was gonna say except I believe the "h" may play a part in a soft hy sound but as they said could be silent. Vid-hyarta. Swedish is not a language I would know at all.
Hey love the videos but can you react to "Question!) By system of a down?
There’s two of them
You probably know this by know but "Den Helige Anden" means "The Holy Spirit" in Swedish
Uneven Structure- Awaken/Frost/Hail
Thall
Please check out their guitarrists and drummers other band "Humanities Last Breath". It's categorised as evil. I like the songs Fragda or Vanda. Rampant is sick too.
You should check out Bruno Pernadas - Galaxy
The whole band is in on those 😂
THALL
React to Hanging The Nihilist! :D
They used to have 2 vocalists but one left
this was funny as hahahahaha
They have a sense of time, it's just thall over the place.
2/4 can be very messy and chaotic
vild-hyart-ah
Thall
React to more vildhjarta please
It's ironic that you say the H messes you up, in Swedish, we don't pronounce the h at all in the word hjärta(heart). If you just said it like you did in the video, you'd be closer. Though J has a softer Y sound in Swedish and Ä is pronounced like the A in 'spare'.
Thyme
They have a new album. Lots if great shit. I'm begging you.
Car Bomb - Sets
Vildhjarta's Måsstaden album is an absolutely masterpiece that should be enjoyed in it's entirety. You're welcome.
Earthside - Contemplation of the Beautiful and Demon Hunter - Lesser Gods
Crater on that Earthside album has long been a gem i show people, Bjorn killed it so hard.
@@paravarium I love both of these songs, Crater is amazing. For me though Contemtplaion of the Beautiful is just... gives me chills every time. I'd love to hear his opinion.
Why? Why not!
Seven Spires - Succumb
Interesting reaction/analysis. Personally, I dig this group's first album, but this newest one, which includes this song, is a little too weird and random for me. It sounds like random chugfests instead of songs, for some tracks at least. But maybe it still has to grow on me...
Nobody ever reacts to the Omnislash EP saaaad