The pagan metal label could fall into many sub genres, power metal, folk metal and black metal all being contenders. The Swedish band gallops with epic triumph into things on the first rack that owes more to power metal. It is however a little darker, so this works for me, this darker feel even leans into doom going into the second song. Along with the tremolo picked guitar and switch over into more scowling vocals black metal is also a shade being used here. Two minutes in and things break down into more of a tense chant before the dynamic flips back to big chords. When it flips into more snarled vocals there is more of a black metal feel, but the song itself is pretty cohesive.
There is almost an Iron Maiden feel to "Fenris". The vocals are not belted in that style, but the mood is minus the more mournful vocal harmonies. The vocals feel more emotive and less dramatic than Dickinson. "Rise of the Destroyer" find the pace picked up by the drive of double bass. This also finds it conforming more to what you expect of today's metal. There is a more folk tinged sway to "Alvablot". It waltzes into some pretty standard vicing metal triumph but works well. There are some theatrics leading into "Den dighra Doden". Which has more of a mid-paced throb that reminds me a little of Primordial. A little of theatrics goes a long way as it can kill a song's momentum, and this is coming from someone who loves King Diamond.
"Ner i Morkret" is a little less focused and at times falls closer to what their peers do. Though it is almost hard to fault them because it is so dynamic."Heimdal's Horn" balances out atmosphere, melody and the big Lord of the Rings scale of sound captured here. I will give this one a 9.5 and see how it sits with me as the year unfold, one of the best albums of this kin I have heard in some time. This is being released on Hammerheart Records.
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