***The passage of time can have a curious effect on our assessment of music. Some artists or albums that seemed so vital and important at their inception age poorly, appearing dull and derivative as the decades pass. On the other hand, there are many bands—often the most experimental and innovative—that were initially under-appreciated, overlooked, or dismissed, but whose value becomes apparent only many years later. Oxiplegatz, a solo project by Alf Svensson—best known for his guitar work in Grotesque and At The Gates on their classic early releases—falls into this latter category. As At The Gates’ popularity grew following the release of With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness in 1993, Svensson felt the band was moving in a different direction than he envisioned and parted ways. His disenchantment was not limited to his former band but to the scene as a whole, which, he felt, was becoming increasingly predictable and formulaic. Bored by the familiar tropes of Satanism and evil that permeated black metal, Svensson found inspiration in the science fiction books and films he avidly consumed. His first self-released Oxiplegatz album, Fairytales, from 1994, was largely culled from unused riffs he’d written for At The Gates. Although it was, as he put it, of “uneven quality,” it set the course, stylistically and thematically, for his second album, Worlds and Worlds, which followed two years later and more fully realized Svensson’s vision for the project. While bands like Voivod and Nocturnus were premised on science fiction themes, there were few, if any, black metal bands that drew upon similar concepts. Some of Svensson’s contemporaries such as Limbonic Art, Vulpecula, Circumventor, and a few others, had a celestial, atmospheric element to their music, but Oxiplegatz was much more fantastical, with lyrics depicting Earth’s demise, intergalactic exploration, and malevolent alien species.
The cover was also a stark departure from the genre’s norms, featuring mid-1990s computer-generated art set against a white background. Though crude by comparison to contemporary digital design, the graphics for “Worlds and Worlds” were cutting edge and novel at the time and sharply contrasted with the predictably grim imagery that adorned most black metal releases. The music on the album was every bit as unusual as the cover art suggested. Driven by Svennson’s abrasive guitarwork and frenzied drum programming, symphonic keyboards, acoustic guitars, spoken word, and operatic vocals, both male and female, add depth and eccentricity to the album.
While the technology Svensson employed made it feel dated in the decade or so after its release, as often happens with music, that effect has largely worn off at this point such that the album can once again be appreciated for its creative merit. “Worlds and Worlds” may have been too ambitious and radically unorthodox for most black metal fans in 1996, but with the benefit of hindsight, one can see now, nearly 30 years later, just how revolutionary it was. Indeed, Svensson’s Oxiplegatz albums were, in many ways, among the first to really expand the boundaries of the black metal genre. After having been out of print for a decade, NWN! is honored to present this new edition of Worlds and Worlds, a visionary album that truly deserves reappraisal and recognition.
