''Pērkoņkalve'' (''Thunderforge'') is

Skyforger Skyforger is a heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Latvia which was formed in 1995 out of the remains of doom metal band Grindmaster Dead. Musical style and lyrical themes Most of their songs are about Baltic mythology and warfare; they a ...

's third full-length album. It was recorded and mixed from late 2002 to early 2003 at the

Phoenix Studios Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and released on 1 June 2003 by Folter Records. The official presentation of the album took place on 21 September 2003 at the festival Baltijas Saule (''Baltic Sun'') in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

. In a 2006 interview, frontman Pēteris Kvetkovskis referred to the album as the band's ''

Reign In Blood ''Reign in Blood'' is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 7, 1986, by Def Jam Recordings."Touring Blood", ''Decibel Magazine'', April 2008, p. 57. The album was the band's first collaboration with pro ...

'', i.e. Skyforger's best work, but also expressed hope the band's best album is yet to come. He also recalled an incident when a factory refused to press another batch of CDs after its boss saw the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...

in both the album's cover art and band's logo (see Skyforger#Controversy). In 2009 Folter Records released a red

12" vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

edition of the album limited to 500 copies.

Musical style and lyrical themes

''Pērkoņkalve'' indicates a departure from the war themes (

Battle of Saule The Battle of Saule ( lt, Saulės mūšis / Šiaulių mūšis; german: Schlacht von Schaulen; lv, Saules kauja) was fought on 22 September 1236, between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and pagan troops of Samogitians and Semigallians. Betwe ...

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence ( lv, Latvijas Neatkarības karš), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaim ...

, and Latvian Riflemen) covered by the band's previous albums. It is a concept album about

Latvian mythology Latvian mythology is the collection of myths that have emerged throughout the history of Latvia, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives. These myth ...

with the Latvian

god of thunder Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European c ...

Pērkons depicted on the cover, striking an anvil with his hammer. ''Pērkoņkalve'' goes through the ancient Latvian year and starts with a song about the arrival of spring god

Ūsiņš Ūsiņš () is a deity in Latvian mythology, the god of light and spring, symbol of fertility, guardian of horses and bees. It is one of few Latvian deities whose historical sources can be derived to be more or less genuine testimony. With Ūsi ...

. Musically, the album is slower, doomier and less aggressive than Skyforger's previous works and features a more extensive of various Latvian folk musical instruments, folk melodies, and folk lyrics. It was also the first the band utilized a

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

Track listing

English translated titles in italics. # "Intro" - 00:34 # "Kad Ūsiņš jāj" (''When Usins Rides'') – 4:57 # "Gada īsākā nakts" (''The Shortest Night of the Year'') – 5:48 # "Nakts debesu karakungs" (''Warlord of the Night Sky'') – 5:34 # "Garais dancis" (''Long Dance'') – 4:13 # "Pērkoņkalve" (''Thunderforge'') – 4:47 # "Migla migla, rasa rasa (svētās vedības)" (''Oh Fog, Oh Dew'') – 7:04 # "Čūsku sieviete" (''The Woman of Serpents'') – 6:55 # "Caur aizsaules vārtiem" (''Through the Gates of the World Beyond'') – 5:02 # "Tumsā un salā" (''In Darkness and Frost'') – 5:48

Personnel

Skyforger * Pēteris Kvetkovskis – lead vocals, electric guitar,

stabule Stabule, also known as stebule or stabuļa. is a Latvian woodwind instrument. The name can apply to variety of wind instruments, but in general sense it is a pipe with 4-8 finger holes. These instruments are 1.5–2.5 cm in diameter and can ...

kokle Kokle (; ltg, kūkle) or historically kokles (''kūkles'') is a Latvian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian kannel, Finnish ...

, design * Edgars Grabovskis – bass guitar, vocals,

ģīga The ģīga or divstīdzis is a two-stringed bowed zither found in Latvia. The instrument is descended from the psalmodicon ( lv, vienstīdzis or ''manihorka''), a bowed monochord developed in Sweden in 1829 for liturgical singing. From there it ...

Jew's harp Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

* Rihards Skudrītis – electric guitar, additional vocals, kokle, acoustic guitar, keyboards * Edgars Krūmiņš – thunderdrums, percussion Production * Gints Lundbergs –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

, mixing * Virsaitis – cover and painting * Aiva Krūmiņa – painting * Valdis Bērzvads – layout, design * Ieva Zemīte – photography * Ilze Apine – photography * Andis "Hopkinss" Toms – English translation

References

External links

Thunderforge
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

Official translation of the lyrics in English and German
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkonkalve 2003 albums Skyforger albums