Band:	Vanaheim
Album:	Een Verloren Verhaal
Style:	Folk metal
Release date:	February 2022

01. Uit Steen Geslagen
02. Onbevangen
03. Rusteloos
04. Reuzenspraak
05. Verloren
06. Gevallen In De Nacht
07. Uit Steen Geslagen [Folkestral version]
08. Onbevangen [Folkestral version]
09. Reuzenspraak [Folkestral version]
10. Gevallen In De Nacht [Folkestral version]

An early contender for 2022’s best folk metal album comes from the very Nordic lands of... The Netherlands.

Vanaheim, a reference to the home of the Vanir in Norse mythology, don’t appear to have their eye entirely set on Nordic folk, as their debut EP The House Spirit told the story of the Domovoi, spirits from Slavic mythology. However, sonically they sound every bit like a Finnish group, with a bombastic symphonic folk/power metal style that serves as a grandiose summation of several bands from that country. That grandeur wouldn’t have been possible without such a clear production job, a production job that is very impressive coming from an unsigned band, which I was quite surprised to discover. In general, I’m a bit surprised at how under the radar their debut record, Een Verloren Verhaal (which translate to 'A Lost Story') seems to have been, but I’ll see what I can do to counter that.

Now, of those Finnish bands I mentioned above, possibly the first one that is going to come to mind is Wintersun; once the opening song “Uit Steen Geslagen” kicks into gear, the majestic infusion of symphonic elements and folk melodies into an extreme power template draws parallels to Time I, albeit without such extravagant layering. Those folk melodies are immediately memorable, with violin, pagan gang choral and guitars in synchrony with one another. This song, along with all the ones on the record featuring metal instrumentation, can be heard in a ‘folkestral’ version on the album’s bonus disc; while these versions are a nice touch, Een Verloren Verhaal sounds best when everything is present, screams, singing, chugs and all the rest.

“Uit Steen Geslagen” is a cracking opener, one that builds before culminating in a rousing, up-tempo climax. “Onbevangen” flies out of the gates to capitalize on that momentum, but it ultimately settles into a more measured march. From this point onwards, some other Finnish metal bands come to mind; I get flashbacks to Turisas and The Varangian Way at times, and I wouldn’t be surprised if members of the band were also fond of Nightwish and Sonata Arctica based on moments heard in this track and others. Further afield, Sagas-era Equilibrium comes to mind on more than one occasion. However, perhaps surprisingly, the piece of the puzzle that stood out most to me across the rest of the album was Moonsorrow; beneath the bursts of power metal energy and emphatic symphonics, I hear melodies reminiscent of those on Kivenkantaja and Jumalten Aika on “Onbevangen” and “Reuzenspraak”.

While all of that namedropping in the previous paragraph is perhaps a lazy way to summarize Vanaheim’s sound, it also plays into why I’m surprised at how low-profile this band seems to be at present. Admittedly, Een Verloren Verhaal is a debut record, but this is a band that draws elements from half-a-dozen bands very popular in a certain demographic and mixes them together in a way that should really appeal to fans of any of those bands, so I thought it would have been instantly eaten up like hot cakes. Maybe it’s just early days and this album will soon pick up traction, or maybe it’s just 10-15 years too late to explode in the way it once might have. Certainly, Vanaheim’s the first up-and-coming band I’ve heard in a fair few years to come out with a Nordic folk metal album with this kind of joyously cheesy bombast, or at least produced anywhere near to this level.

However, presumably there’s still a market for that kind of sound, and once said market discovers Een Verloren Verhaal, I would expect them to derive a large amount of enjoyment from it. Across the four ‘main’ tracks on the album, Vanaheim reliably deliver memorable melodies and stirring soundscapes, and these lengthy tracks (the triumphant closer “Gevallen In De Nacht” exceeds 11 minutes) flow nicely through a range of dynamics and tempos. In the continued absence of Time II from Wintersun, Een Verloren Verhaal should more than scratch that itch.