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TBC001
Full length CD, 10 Tracks
A Za Frûmi collection featuring remastered versions songs from their first four releases plus two unreleased, new songs, «Barrow Wights» is the newest conceptual strike from the duo’s creativity pool.
Specially built to unravel a story, but amazingly suitable for an exciting audio experience, «Barrow Wights» is dark fantasy ambient music with martial and cinematic takes drawn close to perfection.
Lavishly packed in a 24-page fully illustrated hardcover book. A CD with the album itself and a slipcase to round-up the deluxe edition make this Limited edition (1000 numbered copies) a treat for the followers of Za Frûmi. Four tracks on the album are not available for purchase anymore and two tracks are previously unreleased. Remastered 2007. Released June 2008.
Do you dare enter the realm of the 'Barrow Wights'?
Tracklist
1. Shadow Twin
2. Ruin
3. Olog Forest
4. Vrapogat
5. Za shapukatar Shapol
6. Dwarven Wars
7. Through Jakesh Eyes
8. Interludium I
9. Za hinor
10. Jal Khaless zhah waela
Reviews of Barrow Wights (click highlighted text for full review)
"It has a magical element of fantasy in its instrumentation; it has loyal and memorable themes for every aspect of the story, and it builds up to one hell of a tumultuously satisfying climax. In its vast complexity of layers, themes, orchestration and as a collector’s item this album is a magical jewel. A must for the fans and people who want to get to own tracks that are now sold out. I am a proud owner of the album! It´s a great gift too. But... I am keeping my copy myself."
- Ivan Racheck - Chain D.L.K.
"It's difficult to narrow such a vast wealth of strong music to just one album but with the concept in mind and with the knowledge that this is about the early years I must admit I love this collection. I love the artwork, I love the concept and I love the music!"
- David Purdie - Musical Zone Japan
"A disc to collect and love for an artistic project which is absolutely deserving to be explored, liked for what it is. Music to dream that “Middle Earth” which is for what it seems, the world as it should be."
- Roberto Alessandro Filippozzi - Dark Room Magazine
"Overall the aesthetic quality of Barrow Wights is extremely pleasing, both in the conception of the book and the engineering of sound mixes evident in the music which still retains Za Frûmi's signature instruments and compositional nuances. In the time of the digital file download it is refreshing to see a partnership producing such a high quality, tactile object that enriches the music and gives it greater clarity and focus. This release is limited to 1000."
- Michael Cunningham - Rúna, Compulsion, Judas Kiss and the Tolkien Society (Amon Hen)
Full Reviews:
Chain D.L.K - by Ivan Racheck:
Grade: 5/5 stars
Barrow Wights offers listeners a chance to experience the epic first four years of the world of Za Frûmi. In a visually immersive, specifically designed BOOK (25 pages, A6) the beautiful CD lay like a treasure in the end of it. For you who read other reviews by me you already know I love Za Frûmi as a band and as artists. They are among the best in the genre of dark ambient and fantasy music. I don´t need to repeat that in this review and bore you with endless praise.
This stunning Za Frûmi sampler is released by new Portugal based label (very promising!) Tom Bombadill´s Collectors and is limited to 1000 numbered copies. The disc covers songs from the debut album "Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh" (not my old favorite song but what the hell!) and the second album called "Tach - chapter 2" from the "Za Frûmi saga". Also songs from "Legends act 1", "Legends act 2 - Vampires" and two interesting unreleased songs made during the first four years in the bands 8 year history. The world of the supernatural has been well represented by Za Frûmi´s wildly imaginative work. To incorporate it with the work of Tolkien and use parts of the Za Frûmi stories to dive into the Barrow Wights is just pure genius.
When you step back and appreciate "Barrow Wights" as a whole, you recognize that Za Frûmi and Tom Bombadill´s Collectors have provided everything that you could ever want in a sampler.
It has a magical element of fantasy in its instrumentation; it has loyal and memorable themes for every aspect of the story, and it builds up to one hell of a tumultuously satisfying climax. In its vast complexity of layers, themes, orchestration and as a collector’s item this album is a magical jewel. A must for the fans and people who want to get to own tracks that are now sold out. I am a proud owner of the album!
It´s a great gift too. But... I am keeping my copy myself.
Musical Zone Japan - by David Purdie:
Grade: 980/1000
This great compilation is released by Tom Bombadil’s Collectors - a new label (Sub-label to Portugal based Major Label Industries) created to deal with fantasy and epic music based on JRR Tolkien’s works.
To kick off a series of collectors items Tom Bombadil’s Collectors go out strong with the active Swedish group (Simon Heath & Simon Kölle) Za Frûmi.
The sampler have a total of 10 tracks and 8 of them are from the "early days" of the band (2000-2004) and most of the tracks belong on albums that now are sold out. 2 tracks are "new" or more correctly they were made back in the early years but not released. The concept is that of the darkest aspects of Middle Earth. The Barrow Wights.
Beautiful packed in a 24-page hard-cover book fully illustrated and with an astonishing cover made by Mike at Dragon Design.
Who would do this concept better than Za Frûmi? I would like not be the band to follow this hell of a label debut!
«Barrow Wights» is the newest conceptual strike from the duo’s creativity pool. Specially built to unravel a story, but amazingly suitable for an exciting audio experience, «Barrow Wights» is dark fantasy ambient music with martial and cinematic takes drawn close to perfection.
It's difficult to narrow such a vast wealth of strong music to just one album but with the concept in mind and with the knowledge that this is about the early years I must admit I love this collection. I love the artwork, I love the concept and I love the music!
Dark Room Magazine - by Roberto Alessandro Filippozzi:
Grade 8,5/10
Translated to English by Marco Vergari.
With the sixth and seventh parts in distribution right now, (The third and fourth acts of the “Legends” Saga launched 2002), the Swedish duo composed by Simon Kölle and Simon heath (part-owners of the wonderful trademark “Waerloga” and busy with the other project “Abnocto” and more) celebrates with another special edition. Baptized by the “Tom Bombadil’s Collectors”, the new division of the Portuguese “Major Label Industries”.
The Tom Bombadil’s Collector has the purpose of realizing outcoming artists performing dark music inspired by Tolkien in the luxuos A5 digibook with slipcase, hard case and a 24-page booklet to explain the various concepts. And everyone of these volumes will be published in only a thousand exemplars. This series, which we hope will get the attention it deserves (especially after viewing the splendid package, which is usual a sign of a great collection), was inaugurated by Za Frumi. A duo who was formed in the end of the last millennium and who since 2000 is making success in the act of creating dark-tuned fantasy music with a “Tolkien style”.
Not only with the own musical project but especially with the “Waerloga” trademark, a known and authentic trademark for the lovers of more magical music. In a particular way thanks to the two volumes of the magnifique sampler “Radio Rivendell compilations”.
In Exception of the two included extra-tracks (which are superb like the rest of the material). This intense and tasty release has the purpose of recurring the career of the duo especially for what it relies on the first period (picking up old works that are now sold out), to be more specific the debut of “Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh” (2000) to “Legends act 2: Vampires” (2004). We experience a new travel through magical atmospheres created by Tolkien’s pen, enchanting flutes, celestial melodies, dark and solemn percussions, voices of horrible creatures and themes of an exquisite ambiental taste. To lose yourself in the sounds of this enchanting piece of art, ideal as the soundtrack to the famous “Lord of the Rings” which sometimes I feel would be better than the pompous orchestrations of the famous Hollywood trilogy.
It is a great pleasure wandering between wizards, orcs, knights, monstrous creatures, elves, spirits and dark places… Epic, Solemn, Dark, Majestic, Suggestive and stimulating, the music of Za Frumi has the power to recreate the atmospheres so cunningly described by Tolkien as probably no one else could. And the listening of the songs, together with the readings of the digibook, will be the joy of those who demand most of all credibility from the Fantasy genre. Not the usual crap put together without the minimum of culture by most artists (especially metal). A disc to collect and love for an artistic project which is absolutely deserving to be explored, liked for what it is.
Music to dream that “Middle Earth” which is for what it seems, the world as it should be.
Rúna, Compulsion, Judas Kiss and the Tolkien Society (Amon Hen) - by Michael Cunningham:
The dark, and at times, rumored figures that shift menacingly on the narrative edges of JRR Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' are allowed to possess the centre stage, to a degree, through this the first joint musical venture between the fantasy sound-drama of Za Frûmi and new Portuguese music label, Major Label Industries. The fruit of this coalition is 'Barrow Wights', Volume One of what is intended to be a series of releases under the sub label, Tom Bombadil's Collectors. In keeping with the tradition of the attentive detail an luxury that many of Tolkien's published works find
themselves garbed in this particular release comprises of an A5 sized book with a solid cover and slipcase. The book itself is contains 24 pages that include extracts from Tolkien's 'Fellowship of the Ring', primarily the chapter: 'Fog on the Barrow-Downs' as well as wider elaborations on the nature of the Wight. The overall production is completed with professionally finished art which, in itself, is subtle and manages to instill a chilling dimension to the product. Housed on the inside rear cover is the CD and therein are ten tracks, a number are recordings which have
appeared on now hard to find Za Frûmi albums with two new recordings especially for this release. The tracks have all been mastered to ensure a overall freshness of sound. Those unfamiliar to Za Frûmi will find this release t provide a good spectrum of their work.
In utilizing field-recordings, real sounds such as the heavy thud of hooves or the rasp of steel play amongst the music to 'illustrate' the tracks and give the audience an opportunity to develop a narrative image that the music enfolds and drives. Some tracks, such as 'Shadow Twin' and 'Dwarven Wars' contain martial flavors through the use of heavy percussion, bombastic in places, that also provides foundation. With sweeping chants and choral voices, sometimes rising in symphony, added the overall series of tracks coalesce to create a very brooding feeling which is in
concert with the theme of this release. The forest environment is threatening and much of the ambient phrasing conjures ruinous tombs carpeted with fogs and being home to dark shadows. Some tracks also contain Za Frûmi's Orkish dialogue which is not overdone and because it was well conceived and delivered helps to characterize the music. Stand out tracks would have to be 'Through Jakesh eyes' and the strident 'Vrapogat'.
Overall the aesthetic quality of Barrow Wights is extremely pleasing, both in the conception of the book and the engineering of sound mixes evident in the music which still retains Za Frûmi's signature instruments and compositional nuances. In the time of the digital file download it is refreshing to see a partnership producing such a high quality, tactile object that enriches the music and gives it greater clarity and focus.
This release is limited to 1000.
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