the Devil's Trade : 'Iron Peak"

Doom folk or what ever you kinds wnat to call variations on country or neo folk these days has gained seemed in recent years. The first few strains of this hungarian singer song writer, makes me think he used to sing in doom metal bands before this.There is a more romantic longing than country. He clearly has a good voice, but is he a good song writer is what I am wondering in the midst of the dark and droning opening track. While equally haunting the second song comes together with vocals that give you more latch onto . There is also more of a old country feel to it. There are three atmospheric interludes on this album which for the sake of this review I am ignoring. It is dark, though not dark in the same way King Dude is/. King Dude in comparison has more of a Johnny Cash vibe, this has more of a grunge feel to his smooth yodeling tone.  Marko is more about sonic hypnosis than writing songs with hooks you can sing along to. The abundance of acrobatics found in the melodies play into this.

"Expelling of the Crafty Ape" might be a great song title, but the acutal song is some pretty dense meandering . I appreciate the vibes, but I want to be more engaged by the song. Things are starting to run together that this point in the album, though he takes on a more belted tone. Singing in his native tongue does not help the melody to flow any smoother. In fact this song is more consumed by ambiance. I like the guitat accompaniment to " Eyes in the Fire" it reminds me of  a non metal version of "Cemetary Gates" . It also has a melody that is easier to latch your ears onto. So far I would call it one of the album's best moments. "Dreams of the Rot" drifting around like a ghost with finding a clear desination. It becomes more content with atmosphere to have a dynamic direction. And at almost 8 minute there was plenty of time for it to choose.

There is a little more twang to the last. The vocals are a little more focused , perhaps not as much as "Eyes in the Fire" , but more listenable than the previous song. The album's strength is his voice and the dark mood it summons. These two elements are what earns it a more than generous score of 8. Not something I am going to listen to more than a few times, but despite the haunting nature of these songs sometimes keeping them in purgatory if you like dark and doomy folk this is worth your time.Comes out on Season of Mist August 20th.