Band:	Metsatöll
Album:	Äio
Style:	Folk metal, Heavy metal
Release date:	March 03, 2010
A review by:	Ernis

01. Ema Hääl Kutsub
02. Kui Rebeneb Taevas
03. Tuletalgud
04. Vaid Vaprust
05. Äio
06. Vihatõbine
07. Kuni Pole Kodus, Olen Kaugel Teel
08. Vägi Ja Võim
09. Minu Kodu
10. Nüüd Tulge, Mu Kaimud
11. Roju
12. Kabelimatsid
13. Verijää
14. Jõud

Metsatöll have managed to issue another fine album. Äio is a classical release true to the band's style with artwork by Jüri Arrak known for his distinctive paintings concerning Estonian folk tales. This album is another longer one after the very diverse Hiiekoda although bit shorter and explores some new fields previously not discovered on the earlier works.

The ensemble's way of using Finno-Ugric traditional music with a good bucket of Celtic (particularly Irish) sound together with heavy metal settings is present in this album. This is delighting for this particular style has always made them outstanding amongst all other folk acts. The lyrics are in Estonian with a rather well written poetry in them, yet another plus for the band. The new aspects that appear on this album are the lessened Celtic colours and more pronounced Eastern sound (Mongolian, Central Asian etc), moving closer to the roots of Uralic peoples. This enriches the folk metal scene a lot. Who needs more "viking" folk bands who all rely on a mishmash of Scandinavian and British barn dance styles anyway? Plus Metsatöll's experience and maturing over the year makes them technically superior to some less experienced unknown bands of Asian scene.

Äio features some darker sounds than the previous releases. The metal side of the album explores style similar to the Estonian military tragedy act Loits. The instrumental side shows good combination of national bow instruments, bagpipes, harps etc. The symphonic factor is added by the choir who make the music more polyphonic and mellow. I hope they keep this tendency and transform into a symphonic folk band someday. It wouldn't be bad.

The good moments of this album are not that much concentrated into specific tracks but appear along the course of the album which is not that much of a "hit-song release" this time. The most suitable representatives of the colour palette of this album would be the introduction with the two, no, three, no... well, with all the following songs. The choice is hard for every song has something to offer. The potential hit song is "Vaid Vaprust" although "Roju", "Verijää" and the title track are among the better ones. Whoever searches for some bit more exotic experience from the folk field, Estonia proudly recommends Metsatöll.