Striborg — Journey of A Misanthrope (dvd)
As one would expect if they know anything about Striborg project or grim black metal in general there’s lots of footage of forests- be it in night vision, at dusk or general looking ominous. Along with footage of snow covered landscapes, the moon, etc and brief glimpse of Striborg Mastermind Sin Nanna, with the footage often short in black and white, slowed down or with added on grain or creepy effects. I know on the surface this does really sound that appealing or entertaining, but Sin Nanna mangers to make each track effective, creepy and grim in its own right. Though it’s not the kind of thing you’d watch in one long 90 minute sitting, been much more suited to shorter one or two track burst of grim Sonics and visuals.
A few of my favourite moments are; Beneath the fields of Rapacious blood taken from 2004’s Spiritual Catharsis album which features a mix black and white nightvision forest footage much like the pictures on the front cover of his Solitude album. Along with slowly creepy and hazy panning shots of dusk forests, with later on some great grim ‘n’ dizzy and disorientating making shots taken from spinning below trees. Somnambulistic Nightmare from 2006 Nefaria album which mixers together the only footage here of Sin Nanna playing guitar and drums, along with eerier and slowed night vision footage of him slip in and out of the darkness in cape ‘n’ corpse paint- of course along with more forest footage- this time often nicely and chilling inversed, with the track finishing with the rather nice animated Striborg logo growing branches and roots. Or the blacked ambient synth only unfold of Homosapiens Devoid from 2007 Solitude album with it’s grimy hypnotic shifting black and white shapes over more forest backgrounds- the track really puts you in a bleak and melancholy trance for its eight minute dwell.
All in all a great audio visual submersion in Striborg grim and creative world. I see this appealing both to Striborg fans and newbie to the blacked faith as the selection of tracks and visual are very approachable and rewarding to those with interests in grim sonics and visuals in general