Otyg - Älvefärd review
| Band: | Otyg |
| Album: | Älvefärd |
| Style: | Folk metal |
| Release date: | 1998 |
| Guest review by: | Haddonfield |
01. Huldran
02. I Trollberg Och Skog
03. Älvadimmans Omdaning
04. Ulvskrede
05. Fjällstorm
06. I Höstlig Dräckt
07. Myrdingar - Martyrium
08. Allfader Vise
09. Fjälldrottningens Slott
10. Trollpiskat Ödemarksblod
11. Draugen
12. Skymningsdans
In 1998, Swedish folk metal band Otyg released their first album entitled Älvefärd. The band includes Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund on vocals and he offers a fair deal of originality to the band with his clean vocals, all in Swedish. Otyg also uses a female vocalist, Cia Hedmark, who also plays the violin throughout. Other instruments used are the lute, keyed fiddle and mouth harp, all give the album an extremely folky feel.
The music is simply beautiful and catchy. When listening to the album, you can just picture a bunch of vikings united after a battle downing a few beers and for a moment you dream of being one of them. But it isn't just the vikings that come to mind, the album carries a medieval feel because of the use of traditional instruments. The album also blends bouncy tracks like the excellent "I Trollberg Och Skog" or "Ulvskrede" and more melodramtic tracks like "Alvadimmans Omdaning" or "I Hostlig Draky" which somehow generate a sense of sadness without making you want to slit your wrists.
On the whole, Älvefärd is a very good debut album which has only been followed up by the equally entertaining and well worked Sagovindars Boning. The band has been on hold since 2002, and one can only hope they do one day release new material even if it would be hard to match their previous work. So, anyone looking for a good folk sound I say to you "bottoms up!" and enjoy.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Haddonfield | 27.05.2009
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 6
Visited by: 49 users
| White Metal Posts: 18  |
I'm 100% with your review .. This album creates an outstanding atmosphere , their music is undoubtly original ,, sadly the band is on hold right now
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| Haddonfield Chucky's Bride Posts: 1993  |
Thanks 
----  "Seasons don't fear the reaper. Nor do the wind, the sun and the rain (we can be like they are)."
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
Very good album. All songs are good, but ''Fjälldrottningens Slott'' is memorable. The only problem is the lack of instrumental tracks. The atmosphere is less intense cause Vintersorg never shut up. That's the main problem of their other album also.
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| Torelli Posts: 1288  |
"...and more melodramtic tracks like "Alvadimmans Omdaning" or "I Hostlig Draky" which somehow generate a sense of sadness without making you want to slit your wrists." Is that how you veiw swedish folk music also?  Anyway, one good thing with this album is that they include so much swedish/nordic folk music into it. Also, I like that the lyrics include other nordic folklore, not only the usual viking mythology/ themes.
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| Haddonfield Chucky's Bride Posts: 1993 |
Written by Torelli on 10.06.2009 at 14:31 Sometimes yes, it's is one of those genres that you try to avoid if you're a bit depressed. Written by Torelli on 10.06.2009 at 14:31 At least as, you're swedish, you get to understand the lyrics, I've been meaning to translate them on google for a while now just to get an idea of what the band sings about,
---- "Seasons don't fear the reaper. Nor do the wind, the sun and the rain (we can be like they are)."
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| Torelli Posts: 1288 |
Yeah, I suppose it can be a bit melancolic.  As for the lyrics, you can alway try this link: http://www.metalstorm.ee/forum/topic.php?topic_id=4919 Perhaps it can be of help
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