Arstidir Lifsins : "Aldafoor Ok Munka Drottinn"

This trio features members of Helrunar and Carpe Noctem, so you know they are going to get at least the  viking parts right. It starts off with a twelve minute epic the first three minutes build up to the metal being introduced. Largely there is a chorus of baritones bellowing out the vocals, but these give way to black metal snarls. The first and second song run into one another like this is a Wagnerian opera. Like opera the magnitude of the scenes they are creating here is impressive, but there is not a lot to really engage you into the songs. The album sounds great. Every thing is well played. the most original...no.

While at best this band might be referred to as blackened folk metal, the third song has some old school black metal nastiness to it. The bass playing is is impressive on it as it raises to an audible level most black metal bass players stay submerged beneath. Here the theatrics which take center stage rather than trying to recreate any pagan folk elements are dynamically right on time and work with the song rather than making it feel overblown. The fourth song is more of a dirge paced hymn. The drums build it up into a blasting nasty blast beat. It slows into a pretty powerful pound.

Epic gets over used, however it applies here as these songs are arranged with orchestral precision. At times you will think now this is how the soundtrack to the Hobbit should have sounded like." Not all of the low vocal chants work with equal success, in fact as the album progress it sometimes makes the song too atmospheric as there is noting to grasp onto until the drums come in in certain passages, though when the drums drop in the do so with quite a crunch. Though some of the spoken word sections make some of the atmospherics almost seem excessive it makes for a crazy dynamic shift when it goes into one of the most frenzied blast beat you will hear on any black metal album. Sometimes these more folk sections are handled in a more Negura Bunget manner, but they are more string based giving it a more symphonic metal feel. They come across more like interludes than being connected to the songs.  When the operatic baritones are thrown into the albums more metal moments it does give the album more personality than the two dozen black metal albums sitting in my in-box. There are times when the harsh vocals sound like they are being traded off between two different microphones, and this effects gives a fresh take on it. Which is what that style of vocalizing is beginning to need as they average harsh vocal performance is beginning to lose it's edge so we are becoming desensitized to it.

This album has a lot going on and the fact it all comes through really clearly is a testament to the skill it was mixed with. This album has a very honest and reverent feel to it, there is not the sense that these guys are just running around LARPing as vikings. These guys are capable musicians, the drummer stands out and can deliver some first class double bass on command. Metal is supposed to be big and over the top, so bands like Manowar and Bathory should be proud of what they helped bring about. The closing song sets a powerful chug against the chorus of chanting baritones. Midway into the song there is a cool break, that gives it the dynamic edge the songs needs after all bombast doesn't seem as bombastic with something to contrast it to. Just in time for the new season of Game of Thrones, you could smoke a bowl, mute the television and leave this playing and get a whole new perspective on the show. I'll give it an 8.5 as it drifts into the background and doesn't hook me in, but it is an impressive piece of work and if you are a fan of viking metal one of the best releases from that sub-genre to come out this year.

Black Metal History Month- Acherontas :"Ma Ion (Formulas of Reptilian Unification"

While I like sonically heavy black metal , sometimes it's just fun to get back to big epic unapologetically metal black metal as well. I am still a big Dimmu Borgir fan even though they are symphonic metal now. So it's cool to hear a band that carries a torch burning somewhere between Dimmu and Emperor. After a weird folkish intro they chug into things with a massive Immortalized riff. These guys collectively have a pretty epic past the members have played in Nightbringer, Enthroned, Melencolia Estatica, Dodsferd and Ancient. Though what this also more than likely means is that if your name is Acherontas V.Priest and you play in a band called Acherontas  which only founding member of, then every one else is a hired guns. The plus and minus of that equation would be hired guns are total pros and some of the best at what they do if they are in high demand  the minus being even the fastest black metal mercenaries won't help you if not allowed creative input, so if they are just clocking into work and one person is writing all of the songs things can get myopic.

There is a lot of reference to ions, obviously the title track being one of these . It also leans towards a more Behemoth like sound. The dry rasp of the mid range growls being one factor. The blasts are relentless when they kick in but sit against a heavily layered arrangement. The guitars sweep in with more of an Emperor like elegance to them. When the band locks into some of the chugs that precede the very melodic solo passages it can be more powerful than when they are just firing off blast beats into this richly chaotic tapestry. Spoken word section recite incantations with all the drama of a book on tape.Though sometimes the more spoken growly vocals sound like Erik of Watain.To their credit in the nine minute epic that is the title track they do hit on several sections that are powerfully melodic, almost to the point of having a Maiden like aspect in the guitars.

Every other song seems to be some sort of experimental interlude with creepy world music elements. This makes "Shaman and the Waning Moon" the third song and he sixth as the album jacket might lead you to believe. So this could turn into an ep , that is filled out by tribal ritual music. It takes two minutes to get to the guitar that trickles in like old Pink Floyd.But alas they just jam around in Negura Bunget's , so no metal surfaces until "Lunar Transcendence and the Secret Kiss of Nut".The riffs to this one carry a storming the gates kind of majesty to them. At the three minute mark this breaks down into some chanting. It starts sounding like Psychic Tv during some of the primitive ritual music. When it goes back into metal part it's slowed down and they are talking about dragons so there is a Watain thing happening again.Some of the blasting begins to numb you out and become a blur even with the melodies layered atop it. They make up for this by summoning some pretty cool space noise in the songs final minutes.


They go grandiose with the 11 minute " The Awakening of the Astral Orphic Mysteries". It's a sprawling assemblage of well played riffery that i enjoy upon hearing it , but isn't particularly memorable. The strum of the clean guitar in "Copper Arcana" does a much better job of standing out in my mind. The dissonant chords of "Therionic Transformation" when combined with the viking like chant work perfectly with one another. The clean vocals on this album are one of it's strong points. They are used sparingly, in more of a Negura Bunget capacity. This pretty much ends the album as there is a another track of supposedly esoteric noise, but that's it for the metal. This is almost an ep if you took away all the interludes. It sounds good and well preformed , a few ideas grabbed me here and there, but nothing I have to have. I'll give it a 7.5.

Equilibrium: "Erdentempel"

We recently started D&D nights on Sunday at our house, and of course the fitting soundtrack is to put Last Fm on "folk metal" radio. Last night my girlfriend rediscovered this band, so I decided to give their latest album a shot. It's much more symphonic than I expected almost like Night Wish without the female vocals. The Folk metal scale tends to be very major and happy so that is one thing the genre normally has going against it for me.

These ale swigging Germans have been pumping out this sort of thing since 2001. They know what they are doing and all the songs flow very smoothly. The 3rd song "Karawane" is the first song on the album that strikes me as being heavy, the frolicking is in full effect early on. The first two songs employ things like speedy almost power metal like gallops and growled vocals, the rousing clean vocals are sparser than expected. They do join in on the chorus like movements. The Celtic like instrumentation rolls along the same lines as the Night Wish riffs. Composition is one of this band's strong suits as the songs are relativly catchy and pieced together in almost movements, so the chorus are more like a dynamic melody that swings in rather than the typical arrangement.

Some of the album's happier moments would annoy me if I wasn't at Dragon Con.From time they dip into a more rock n roll, at others they are more symphonic death metal, so there is a lot going on here. Some of the more progressive elements offset the happy vibe and take it to a more Jethro Tull place. "Freiflug" is another of the album's strong points, it is epic but still has some balls and aggression it, while not forsaking melody. However "Heavy Chill" defaults back into the more power metal mode.

"Wirtshaus Gaudi" brings the heavy back, surprisingly in the days where everything is trying to be black something or another, they do not , instead as the album moves forward the delve in quirky bits of gypsy polka.There are some moments when they hit all the same classic ride into battle glory moments all the other bands of this ilk indulge in, but their song writing generally sets them apart. The seems to be key as "Wellengang" works in the context in which is is used , by taking what could have been a power ballad melody and chugging over it.

They do take more twists and turns on "Apokalypse", which is one of the album's heavier moments.They close on a proggy note with "Unknown Episode" and it's very 80's sounding keyboards.The vocals get even more guttural to offset this with mixed results.Overall I enjoyed this album for what it is, not sure how much mileage aside from Dragon Con I will get out of this , but if this sort of high fanstasy metal is your thing round it up from the 8 I am giving it to a 9.

Obsequiae: "Suspended in the Brume of Eos"

This is folk metal done without the larp like cheese added.You do not need to play Dungeons and Dragons to like this, though this would provide a pretty rocking sound track to a game if you were playing it. The opener "Altars of Moss" set you up for the frosty landscape that is not unlike many of the snow covered plains that Moonsorrow navigates their thematic riffing over. The emphasis seems to be placed on guitar melodies rather than beating you in the ears with heaviness, this strength will be seen as an annoyance to those who are not fans of this sort of thing, but if you are these guys are worth giving a listen

The vocals are anguished enough to be convincing black metal on "Wounded Fox", but the more epic folk metal swing behind it cavorts with the guitar harmonies in a way that is devoid of the dissonance attributed to black metal though the momentumof  "In the White Fields" comes closer to a place where black metal might meet a band like Tyr.

Agalloch comparisons could be made at times, they certainly have somewhat similar standards for composition and dynamics , though Agalloch's leanings toward clean vocals make them more keen songwriters ,where the screamed vocals here seem more like a coating applied like an after thought with the emphasis placed on the riffs.

Some of the more Arthurian intervals they return to cause some of the guitar parts to sound similar, the title track takes on a heavier chug at times to help set it apart."Atonement' goes into the medieval waltz with more meat on it's bones than the frolic laced guitar lines of some of the other songs. They are out to shred on the frantic pacing of "Arrows". "Starlit Shore" launches into a similar pace before returning the regal gallop the band is most comfortable with they speed up to hyper pace like some Dragon Force might do, but with more sincerity and black metal leanings.

There are quite a few cool punches and rhythmic nuances sprinkled about the closing intrumental, that would have been cool to have been used with more frequency in the album as whole, but at least you get a parting taste of them here. I am not a fan of instrumental so it's a credit to their playing they were able to hold my interest here.

.The emphasis seems to be placed on guitar melodies rather than beating you in the ears with heaviness, this strength will be seen as an annoyance to those who are not fans of this sort of thing, but if you are these guys are worth giving a listen  I will give this a 9 as for what it is, which might be too happy for my taste at times is masterully crafted viking/folk infused metal, that gets it right with out tripping over their chainmail and there is not enough of that in the world of metal.

  

Summoning " Old Mornings Dawn"

Actual Occultists don't listen to much we would consider heavy , sure their are exceptions to this I cm think of a handful including my self who do listen to metal , though some top off at Nightwish or Amorphis. Most think stuff like Death in June is edgey listening and Dead Can Dance or Peter Gabriel's soundtrack to the last temptation of Christ is more standard fare though many of a more Celtic current prefer Medieval Babies or something more filking. I did a review of a Negura Bunget album for a esoteric publication as I think there might be some crossover appeal an do think the same can be said of the new Summoning.

There lyrical content is not metaphysical but more based around authors like Tolkein and Moorcock, I'm surprised the game of thrones series hasn't come up , but those books aren't as mystical in nature. These guys really rock the shire for sure. The more folk elements aren't center stage but they aren't lost in the back ground either. Programmed drum sounds have come along way as the drums don't have the stiffness you think they might have . The keyboard sounds to replicate ethnic instruments leaves them sounding a little thin but the overall effect works, in fact I think the metal elements could have been placed more forward in the mix. notice I said elements there as this really will push the definition of what a metal album is even for fans of folk metal. I think this makes this album a more intresting listen than something like Finntroll where it seems that's an afterthought.

"Flammifer" an Ambiant instrumental opening sequence so for out purposes here is the first actual song. I think this is closer to folk metal than black metal unless we are talking about certain time periods of Bathory. The ethic instrumentation works better on this song than later in the album. The guitar sound could have been e.q'ed better and production problems are the albums weak points as the songs are written with very clear vision of what is trying to be accomplished.

The quality of some of the synthetic ethic sounds gets called into question a little when " Old Mornings Dawn" opens.The earthy warmth bands who actually record these types of sounds is not here to be conveyed and leaves things a little thin. The vocals have a little more rasp to them. The song stays at an epic march, there's not a blast neat to be found on this. They do manage to get a big epic fantasy sound with what they are working with here, even as the muddied fuzz of the guitar could use some thickening. The big choral chant that comes in lends some weight to the cinematic scope they are going for. After repeat listens this one strikes me from the stand point of its arrangement as being almost dynamically flat as the song hammers away at the one thing it does.

The guitar does get cranked up on "The White Tower" though the drums do not get the same courtesy and this makes it more obvious they aren't real. The vocals are black metal in their delivery you can hear where Bathory and Ulver have come into play as influences. The keyboard melodies really sit well atop the melancholy drone of the guitar. The harsh croak almost take . In the way the guitar drones it also reminds me of the more recent releases by Burzum. I think this song could use a little dynamic variation even though the moodiness it's created it compelling, the is just a lot more of the same in the arrangement, particularly since the song clocks in at almost ten minutes.

Things stay in a similar realm of mist before the dawn on " Caradhras" where certain keyboard sounds more authentic than others ,mthe drums come in sounding like "When Doves Cry" . The vocals somehow manage to mke all this have the illusion of being cohesive. The guitar could stand to be more prominent and the bass if higher would have given more drive. The parts where the production is lacking does it a rawer more "Cvlt" sound i suppose. The song does have more ebb and flow in its arrangement than "White Tower". The big mead hall sing long that comes in during the final four minutes helps carry the song and the very fact other elements weave in and out of the songs fabric compensates.

The electronic drums show a little more heft in the very Dead Can Dance like feel to the intro to "Of Pale White Morn" which takes a more epic soundtrack turn at the two minute mark, but the drone of ambience keeps it's course.
In the what would Quorthon do column , it would be crank the bass up when the keyboards build and aggressive drumming would have aided the cause.

I'm waiting for Andrew Eldritch to come in over the keyboards of " The Wandering Fire" . This is a positive as it means it has a dark majestic nature that is almost goth. The vocals are the heaviest part this album. It's like black metal karaoke over the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. The piano intro to " Earthshine" keeps it from feeling like a continuation of the first song. What I really like about this is how the vocals flow over the music that would otherwise be almost easy listen or new age. The guitar while metal by definition is just changing on chords and not doing anything more menacing than Trans Siberian Orchestra. The vocals have a rasp to the, but aren't growled and have a lot of passion in their melody giving it almost a cure like feel.


I'm going to the Renn Fest tomorrow and you better believe this will be blaring when we roll up, but even considering the unique place this album holds on my iPod, the question is how much mileage to I think I'm going to get out of this one, so I'll round this down to an 8. Fans of folk metal might want to round this back up a point but I think for the questionable production on the guitar alone leaves an 8 as high as this album might climb and we shall see how much staying power it carries in its sheath.

Heidevolk : Batavi

With Tyr's last album not doing much for me, I really needed was for these Dutch Viking LARPers to set up their game. Let's get my little political qualm out of the way first with these guys and get onto the music, and it's more for the fact we have the record straight, guys the Dutch were only Vikings in the sense that they were part of the territory covered during the Viking expansion movement, I history classes in America but they should in the Netherlands, so describing this band as Viking metal we are really just saying it has more balls than run of the mill folk metal...works for me moving on.
Every metal band will tell you their next album will be their heaviest yet, Heidevolk would not be telling you a lie, every thing here is stepped up. The production the most notable and the vocals really benefit from this. They are double tracked and bellowed out from a booming baritone, see kids you don't have to growl to sound heavy. Now the war chants in the back ground will prove rousing anthems to raise your beer to in the parking lot at Renn-fest, they might one day seem obnoxious to me but for now they don't detract from my listening.
One thing this album gets points for is that in the days of the Ipod where most listening is done on shuffle, this album proves a smooth cohesive journey front to back, no songs I would feel should be excluded from the Ipod,though considering summer has come early, I won't really need to feel like I'm galloping through the snow covered hills til next fall, so it will stay on the hard drive for air conditioned listening.
I have noticed by the acoustic guitar on the 6th song,the more melodic feel was welcome departure as the songs start to take on a similar feel and this is due in part to one of the albums strong points mentioned earlier the vocal production, which gives every thing a similar feel as all the songs are sung in dutch so lyrical content doesn't distinguish them. However even with in that , their are peaks and valleys, the rare appearance of harsh vocals and variations to the guitar attack. The drums while improved performance wise often have the same driving feel as if the double bass is trying to out run a dragon.
The 6th song is an instrumental interlude of sorts and leads back into more of a power-metal type guitar attack, any way you slice and dice this it's more epic on a budget than most of your bigger label releases of this sort of thing, it's very honest and while I don't believe their cosplay, I trust these guys to bring the metal with little pretense. Also they get credit for using their native tongue and folk melodies with out sounding like they are frolicking at the shire with Korpiklaani.
This going to be brutal enough for everyone, but if you like mid tempo power/folk/epic/viking whatever the hell you want to call this then these guys are worth checking out.