The Nordic folk duo Eihwar is oddly from France. They have a somewhat poppier take on a style brought to larger audiences by the likes of Wardruna and Heilung. The first two songs carry a great deal of frolic in how the melodies move. For some reason, they are connecting this to electronic music/ dance music, and maybe the scene in France has changed, but a song like "Ein" feels like neo-folk music, just with more emphasis on the percussive elements. The vocals are also very polished and do not have the raw throat quality of singing heard in many of the more pagan minded folk music, with a more liberal use of overdubs.
Some songs are more like interludes than actual songs, mainly building mood in a cinematic manner. For the purpose of this review, I am not going to count those. The title track has a more deliberate tribal drum, though the melody sounds almost more like Celtic folk. More droning and ritualistic than hooky. The song after this is catchier and works off a more pop-oriented formula, even with the more Viking pulse carried through the background. "Heil Odinn" has a lighter touch to the melody to counterbalance the more pounding drums.
"Omenotharena" is the first song that has anything close to a dance beat or electronics. The last song is a more ballad-like version of "Berserkr" which was used as a memorial, so it is more introspective and subdued. Overall, I like what is going on here as they do more service to songs than just getting all the ancient sounds right. I will give it a 9 and see how it grows on me.
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