Rising from the ashes of legendary black metal band Forgotten Woods comes Joyless forming back in 1996 with their debut album Unlimited Hate which even shared a few tracks from Forgotten Woods. To me, that wasn’t Joyless’ true debut,its with their second album, Wisdom & Arrogance does the band truly come to form. Having a very charming goth rock/folk rock sound that felt like a far cry away from their previous black metal incarnation. Featuring Ida Hellebø on vocals, her quirky yet sorrowful vocals strike an image of nostalgia when accompanied by the equally charming instrumentation.
For those who are familiar with Forgotten Woods there will be some similarities you’d pick up on. The guitars have that very distinct raw and cult style that the band had harbored before, but with Joyless the approach is so much more stripped back and simplistic, with the bass taking much more of a lead in traditional goth rock style. The drums are still very raw and distinct, but of course going for that old school pop-rock style that makes each track that much more catchy. Ida’s vocals are also a nice touch. While it may not be perfectly trained, her raw and authentic style and emotional delivery makes you fall for her on each track. Giving the listener that late 90s early 00s goth feeling that brings back so much nostalgia with each listen. The best example is on the track Isn’t It Nice? Where Ida’s whimsical vocals are backed by Olav Berland’s gruff vocals to create a perfect dichotomy that many might find a little odd or off putting at first, but after many listens, its grown to be my favorite track off the album, with the simplistic backing instruments being the cherry on top of the great vocal performance.
The album as a whole is truly not a technical splendor by any means. Its simplistic and at times could be considered amateur at best. But its the delivery and the melodramatic atmosphere that can make the at times rather corny instrumentals shine in a way that makes it a lot more endearing and true to the band’s selves. They’re being silly and not taking the music as a whole that seriously and with the whole angsty teen feel, its truly a nostalgic album to me personally. It encapsulated that naive edginess we all went through in our youth. With the eighth track Trust Endorse, this three minute little jingle captures that feeling perfectly. Its an instrumental track with a jangly guitar riff, a smooth bass line, and tambourine that feels like an impromptu jam with friends, which to me is such a funny progression into the final track Room of Velvet Splendour a post-punk goth rock ballad of epic proportions, running just over eight and a half minutes. The old Forgotten Woods influence shine on this track and feels like something off the cutting room floor, which personally I think fits Joyless very well.
I think this is a very dividing album with people. You’d either hate it or love it, and there’s no going around it. It took me many listens, but I’ve found my self really falling for this album. I’ve been listening to this album for many years, around the same time as I discovered Forgotten Woods, and there are times where I’d rather find my self listening to this much more underrated release just for that quirky approach that I think they kind of tried to replicate in a much more sinister way with the Forgotten Woods release Race of Cain years later. All in all, I’d highly recommend this album to everyone to give a try. You may not like it at first, but with an open mind, and maybe repeated listens, it’ll quickly grow on you like it did for me. This is easily one of my all time favorite albums because of its authenticity and goth and moody atmosphere.