Band:	Aes Dana
Album:	Formors
Style:	Atmospheric black metal, Celtic black metal
Release date:	September 26, 2005
A review by:	Jeff

01. Les Traces De La Branche Rouge
02. Formors "Mer De Glace Et D'ombre"
03. Formors "Exil"
04. Gwaenardell
05. Le Combat Des Arbres
06. Le Griffes Des Oiseaux
07. Ventres Noirs
08. Manannan Mac Lir

After a lot of reports due to the recurrent problem of their precedent label, Aes Dana finally releases their 2nd album, "Formors", through the French label Adipocere. Good news, because believe me that I was waiting for this release since February 2005, and it's a good thing to have it finally in my hands. If their first album, "La Chasse Sauvage" was already really promising, "Formors" is nothing more than a confirmation and if you like Folk Metal or/and Black Metal, you cannot miss this new CD.

The great point of this album, in my opinion, comes from the fact that a lot different listeners will probably love it. I mean that the Black Metal lovers will love the "cold spirit" and the really dark ambiances in addition of the Black Metal vocals and evidently the strong and aggressive guitars. On the other hand, the ones who like folk and classy melodies will be amazed by the sound of the whistle and the bombarde (a French instrument frequently used for our traditional music, especially in Brittany). As you can understand we're in front of a pure classy mix between the anger of Black Metal and the melodies of Folk. Honestly this is really good and even if you're only a fan of Folk Metal and don't like Black Metal, I'm quite sure that you'll like "Formors".

Also, I really like the general ambiance of the album, all those Celtic touches are really good and when you'll listen to "Formors", you'll, I'm sure, have the feeling that you're in front of the ocean in Brittany or I don't know anywhere else. Actually the lyrics in French are really well written and talk about Celtic legends, you'll see it's really catchy and interesting to read them (if you only understand French?).

The production of the album is damn impressive. The recording for the drums like for the folk instrument is top and the album evidently doesn't suffer of any big problem. Actually the only problem with this album was the long delay for the release date, but at least now all is fixed and let's hope that Adipocere will help the band to find the success that they deserve.

"Formors" is one of the best releases of Folk Metal of the year. It's good for us, the French, to see that some bands like Hantaoma and now Aes Dana are able to produce releases that don't suffer of any comparisons with the masters of the style. If you like Black Metal, Folk or just great music in general you cannot miss "Formors".