The snow dusted peaks of anonymous mountain, where pristine stillness pervades all life, where silence feels comfortably numb.
Recommended reading: Yasunari Kawabata - Snow Country
1. Hibernal
Bb-11 is our general tonality. The scale is Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, Ab. No mention of a 6th (or 13th) here, and there is some focus on C (the 9th) in the delay riff, but otherwise the yearning snow swells focus on the Bb-7 arpeggio with some breezes of 11ths here and there.
Lots of humming F, Ab, and Bb, and particularly humming Ab notes in the lower registers.
Some voicings that encapsulate the vibe: xx8869 (Bb, Eb, F, Db) Bb-11
The delay riff plays Bb, F, Eb, down to C. So we have root, 5th, 11th, down to 9th. There’s a bass part that overlaps with this: Bb, F, Db, C. Nearly in unison, except for the bass plays Db under the higher Eb, huge major 9th leap creating more of that open blizzard air space.
2. Isenfang
Bass starts us outlining D- arpeggio: D, F, A. With plenty of chilling overtones. Every now and then, during the F note, Bb is hidden in there, creating like a very brief vague Bb major sound. The difference between D- (D, F, A) and Bb major inversion (D, F, Bb) is that itty bitty half step between A and Bb, and Isenfang capitalizes on that chance and pulls us back and forth seamlessly between the two.
D minor scale: D, E, F, A, Bb, C, D. No mention of G (11th) here, instead we get the moody b6 (Bb).
Sometimes there’s a low/mid E (the 9th) that sustains and clashes against the Fs and the Bbs of the song, making b9 and triton tonalities, giving Isenfang it’s spooky melancholy.
3. Whispering Pines
Bass plays B up to F#, up to A, down to F#, down to D…then B, F#, A, F#. Again Witan outlines minor 7 arpeggio. Scale follows very strictly B- pentatonic scale creating a Chinese flare also reflected in the song’s haiku-ish title.
Main riff is A down to F#, F# E, D ,B. Straightforward B minor pentatonic riff (B, D, E, F#, A). A higher pitch riff loosely harmonizes and plays A, F#, E, F#.
4. Solitude
Bass opens with B, D, C#, A. Presents B minor flavor, but this time focusing on the C# (9th), and leaving the riff hanging on that A note creates a suspenseful tension.
Keyboard chord drop: x9977x B- triad inversion with D on the top note and F# in the lower register.
Ghostly moans on notes A, F#, E, and C#, sometimes (at timestamp 19:00) on G natural. SPOO-KEY! Hanging on to that b9 interval between F# and G natural, all within the B- scale.
This one especially is reminiscent of Harold Budd and Clive Wright’s A Song For Lost Blossoms.
5. AElfscinu
Super fun one! Sounds like something from Final Fantasy 7, but can’t quite put my finger on it. We have these two lower parts harmonizing, one playing A, C, A, C back and forth. The other D, F, D, F back and forth. D harmonizing with A, then F with C. It’s D-7 chord harmonizing in 5ths, sooo good..like a fluffy fresh dense insulating snow. Guitar voiced as x5321x. It’s a bit of a hand stretch but doable!.
The higher riff plays D, C…A…C…. D, C,…A, E up to C then A. The 2nd part of this riff outlines A- triad (A, C, E) which share a lot of common notes with D-7, BUT, hits at that E natural (5th in A-, 9th in D-). Super cool
6. Langaniht
Lots of trickiness going on here. Low hum throughout the whole tune with a bunch of overtones. From what I could approximate, it starts on F, then to Ab, then Eb…to C…G…Ab…Db…C. The C hum has hints of E overtones. SO that’s fun, since the song is generally outlining an F minor scale (F, G, Ab, C, Db, Eb) but E could technically work by making it F harmonic minor. Also I didn’t notice any Bb (11th) in here.
At some point the hums hang on this Ab thing, like 4x4556…Ab9(b13) chord. Then like they morph to B- briefly then C-7b5.
Around 30:52 there’s a shrill D note…then like Eb minor major 7: x9876x. From here on out we are set up in a vaguely Eb- tonality with a surprise B majorish around 34:27. This one is lots and lots of fun trying to hear out the swells/feedbacks/overtones and working out what chords are materializing from the mist.
7. Stillness
Main riff is G down to F#, up to D, then B, then F#, then up to G. Repeats an octave higher.
There’s hums that hit E (13th) here and there. So we’re looking at G major scale (G, A, B, D, E, F#).
Some fitting chord voicings:
xx520x (G, A, B)
3x0202 (G, D, A, B, F#)
5x4430 (A, F#, B, D, E)
Curiously similar to Budd’s Still Return.
8. Bygone
Chord progression in like B minor tonality (kind of suspended though):
xx997x (B, E, F#)
xx9979 (B, E, F#, B)
xx9977 (B, E, F#, A)
xx7755 (A, D, E, A)
Water droplets in B minor
Higher chords come in like:
xxx475 (B, F#, A)
some chord voiced like that but with G note in it
then like xxx002 to xxx003, G major 7 resolve up to open G major.
9. Moonlit
The main chord shape is C#-7, x45500, and the riff plays like C#, G#, E, C#, E, B…C#, G#, E, C#, E. It’s just picking out the notes from that chord shape.
More snowy shrieks, focusing on G# (5th), F# (11th) and D# (9th)
High riff: C#, D#, C#, B, G#, F#, G#....C#, D#, C#, B. It’s almost like a B major pentatonic riff overtop of the C#-7 chord. OR can be thought of as G# minor pentatonic riff. Both ways work!
10. Echoes
There’s a lot of D major triad stuff, notes of focus are D, E, F#, A, B (D major pentatonic). The bass note will drop from D to B coloring everything minor.
11. Cealdmor
There’s octaves of E, to G#, down to C#. Tonality oscillating between E major and C# minor. A bit of digital (?) fuzz in the background to offer that snowy grainy ambiance.
12. Lenteswefn
Slow build up of this chord, notes A and G, C then B. A to G is minor 7th, C to B is major 7th. Cool 7th idea! This spells A-9 xx7587. But WAIT, there’s more! The G note blurs into F#, creating an A-13 sound..but WAIT, there’s even more! The bass alternates between A and D notes, creating our first chord progression of the album, A- to D7, a good ol’ jazz II V. Super neato, especially with the G/F# line gets hazy like sunned snow blowing around blindingly. Lots of crystalline harmonies sustaining and ringing out like a pristine frost weathered lake forest.
Some voicings that work well:
xx7587 (A,C,G,B)
x010.11.8.0 (okay this one is weird to tab out, it’s A, C, F#, G, E)
x05570 (A, G, C, F#, E)
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