Despite first emerging almost a decade and a half ago there is little that can be said with certainty about the mysterious duo known as Nordic Giants. Appearing on stage as masked figures obscured by fog and shadow, with glimpses of feathers and tree bark on their bodies only visible by the light of screens flashing short films syncing up to their dramatic post-rock sound. If this sounds at all familiar or interesting to you then their compilation Origins, a reimagined collection of their first three EPs, is likely to inspire you to take a deep dive into their accomplished body of work.
Origins starts with it’s best foot forwards with a remaster of one of the band’s best known tracks ‘Together’, a striking soundtrack created as a backdrop to an equally striking speech from Martin Luther King Jr. The changes to this track are subtle but numerous, with the original mix focusing almost entirely on the lead piano line and MLK’s sampled speech whereas the new mix feels a lot fuller and more balanced with fuzzy, droning synth textures and bombastic drums appearing far more prominently. While the broad strokes are still very much unaltered the unassuming little details make this the definitive version of ‘Together’.
Many of the album’s tracks follow a similar formula, elevating the original version while leaving the underlying skeleton of the piece intact. The Origins versions of tracks like ‘Glass Skinned Girl’ and ‘Shine’ bring their guest vocalists, Freyja and Cate Ferris respectively, further towards the forefront, bringing out the intricacies in their performances while ‘The Seed’ featuring Jake Reid removes the retro telephone effect on the vocalist’s voice used in the original mix, clearing up the vocals and rebuilding the track around them rather than burying them in ambience. These subtle changes are sure to please long-time fans as their favourite deep cuts are brought up to date without losing the soul of the original song.
“Origins, a reimagined collection of their first three EPs, is likely to inspire you to take a deep dive into their accomplished body of work.”
However, it has to once again be pointed out that, despite the tireless work that’s gone into re-recording, remixing and remastering the instrumental tracks, most of the underlying material on Origins is kept very much the same. Those listening to the new and old versions side by side on high end headphones will hear delicate changes in the mixing, dedicated fans are sure to enjoy hearing new drum lines and added string flourishes, this album is for them. If you’re new to the world of Nordic Giants then Origins is a fantastic way of experiencing some of their underappreciated early work bundled into a new package but it’s not an entirely necessary upgrade over the already available EPs.
The only song on Origins to get the full rework treatment is ‘Dark Clouds Mean War’ which transplants the original’s understated atmosphere into a more bombastic, dramatic context. The brief sample of Rob Steiger’s speech as Napoleon in the 1970 film Waterloo in the original version of the track is extended, reverberating through the entire piece rather than just the outro and the original’s sombre piano line is given cinematic new life as the song’s striking emotional backbone. ‘Dark Clouds Mean War’ is the only track on Origins that truly feels revitalised to this extent, not only bringing the production in line with the band’s later output but also recontextualising the piece’s solid thematic elements into a more complete whole, while Origins does an admirable job of remastering and compiling Nordic Giants’ older works it would’ve been great to hear a few more full reworks like this.
Origins is an album for the fans, elevating itself above the usual compilation album by deftly remastering some of Nordic Giants’ oldest works and bundling them together as a definitive package. While it’s great to hear the band’s original intentions brought to life there’s still plenty of untapped potential for full reinterpretations that could give a second wind to some of their underappreciated pieces.