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The Best Folk / Pagan / Viking Metal Album
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"Árstíðir Lífsins play the kind of tunes that conjure feelings of being a White Walker lurking in the frost at one moment, and being a triumphant warrior of the Night's Watch at another. It attacks the Wall with its wall of sounds with charging heroic moments strewn throughout. Vápna lækjar eldr is a dark, melancholy slab of folk/black done properly, and it's great." - Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin
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Arbor plays some folk hybrid with doom/black/prog leanings yet plenty of melody. You'll find screamed, growled, and clean vocals, nice variety in tempos, and plenty of passion. Intense drumming featuring some cold, crisp cymbal work lends the a massive chill to this album. There are surprises around every corner and the music itself tells a vivid story.
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The Hungarians Dalriada return with another no frills approach to folk metal which displays an evidently experienced consistency. Backed by solid musicianship this is a wholesome taste of a band in their prime as Napisten Hava is as strong in its folk instrumentation as in its catchy melodic metal. All enriched with an epic edge it makes for an enjoyable and authentic sounding listen.
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2009. Three years after they released the musical landmark that is OM, mainmen Sol Faur & Hupogrammos left Negură Bunget. And finally their new band's release is there! Guess what, Dar De Duh is another delicately crafted piece of magic; you'll visit ethereal lands and places long gone, guided by the sounds of acoustic guitars, traditional instruments, chants, spiritual passages and raw BM moments that all intersect throughout the album. A must listen, as always with these guys!
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With the musical arrangements of their non-traditional instruments on Helvetios Eluveitie brought the folk aspect of their music more into the foreground. Don't worry; the ripping guitar and fierce drumming is still present, as well as Chrigel's signature growls but this release also showcases hurdy-gurdy player Anna's vocal capabilities more than on any other release. There is something for everybody's taste on Helvetios, be it the casual metal-head or die hard folk enthusiast.
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Ereb Altor is not your typical folk metal band, being as it is a side-project from members of doom greats Isole. Some painful doomy riffs replace any Viking gallop, yet the folk metal shines through this unique lens onto an incredibly rich music landscape.
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Somewhere along the line, people have seemed to forget that folk metal has its deepest roots in Germany. Well before the Vikings revived the flame, a few occult bands were throwing caution to the wind by reinventing the tried-and-true music from medieval time. Finsterforst are the proud descendants of those bands and their third studio album, Rastlos may be their best yet. If Tolkien had been German, this could have been the soundtrack of the Lord of the Rings it's so epically grand. Rastlos accentuates spellbinding atmospheres without losing the magic touch that brought Finsterforst into the fold of the pagan forefront.
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This third studio album from the pagans in Hel displays all the sweeping lines, solid songwriting, and epic storytelling you hope for in a folk record. However, it is their swan song; the band laid down arms this year and is currently sailing to the undying lands. Did they go out on top?
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With the appropriate elemental theme of water Vintersorg's latest reinvention of their progressive black/folk metal expresses a thoroughly engaging fluidity. With a rampant neoclassical frivolity which playfully interacts with the harsh/clean vocal duality this is an album which displays an ingenuity and energy few in the folk genre can match in such a unique way.
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The most refreshing new folk metal band you've heard all year, or maybe in several years. They have a new and different approach, but If there is something you love about folk metal then Wilderun does it. The best part is that despite the variety this is remarkably streamlined and cohesive. They really find the shining middle ground between everything that is good and wonderful and badass about the genre. Fantastic.
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