Band:	Storm
Album:	Nordavind
Style:	Blackened folk metal
Release date:	January 14, 1995
Guest review by:	Lily_Lazer

01. Innferd
02. Mellom Bakkar Og Berg
03. Haavard Hedde
04. Villemann
05. Nagellstev
06. Oppi Fjellet
07. Langt Borti Lia
08. Lokk
09. Noregsgard
10. Utferd

This album is meant to be a hymn to Norway. Old Norwegian tales are resurrected and played now in a metallized version. Wongraven (more known as Satyr) founded this band because of his love for Norway and hunger for playing folk songs from his native country. Herr Nagell (more known as Fenriz) and little later Kari joined him and together they made a Viking metal album, which in its sound reminds me of two bands - Isengard and Otyg. These three projects have common mid-tempo drumming, an epic sound and vocals in the spirit of Norwegian folklore. Isengard is more black metal influenced, Otyg use more folk instruments. So if you want to know what Storm's "Nordavind" sounds like, listen to these two bands, mix their sounds in your mind and get rid of the black metal influence and folk instruments.

Nordavind takes you back in time, when the Vikings were still sailing around the world and conquering new lands. The first song, "Innferd," pictures the gate of time - the beginning of the Norse journey. It's a very neat instrumental, soft sounding and very relaxing and you can easily imagine Heimdall, the watcher of Norse gods sounding the Gjallarhorn in honor of your arrival to the world of the Vikings. Later, the journey goes on by telling stories about a Norseman who, while settling found his new home between hills and mountains, a Norse young man Haavard Hedde fighting against Christians, a romantic story of a girl waiting for her lover in a place between the hills... Finally, "Utferd" brings you back again to our world and is also a calm instrumental, which evokes the image of waking up from a very sweet dream.

The best song on this album is in my opinion "Oppi Fjellet". Without its catchy melody and simple lyrics I wouldn't even think of listening to this album once more. First time when listening to it, it just got stuck in my head and later when I found the album in a store, I remembered this song and made the good decision of buying it. I am sure a lot of people will agree that listening to the music using a CD player is a lot different than from a PC as you can hear a lot more this way... Thus, I have discovered the true beauty of this album. Simple, yet beautiful, calm and still breathtaking. I recommend this to all Viking metal lovers, who are looking for Viking metal in its purest form.