01. I Skovens Rige
02. Med Høtyv Og Fakkel
03. Troldmanden
04. Til Gilde Under Bøgen
05. Tusind Ar I Dvale
06. Vår
07. Utysken
08. Mod Den Endeløse Skov
09. Skovfesten
10. Bødlen
11. Gamle Ask
12. Tudseleg

Growls, power ballads, gallops, blast beats, death metal, heavy metal, power metal, … it’s all here, but, above all, I Skovens Rige is a true folk metal album.

The first thing you’ll hear when you press the play button on the newest release from Trold is a short opening track with a bit of narration. The narration sounds like someone is bidding you welcome to a circus. You know, where it sounds like they overemphasize the awe and wonder of the circus. As a result, my first impressions were: “Oh boy… this is going to be one of these incredibly cheesy folk records, isn’t it?”. Nothing wrong with that in theory, if you’re in the mood for it. But, generally, I prefer folk metal (and power metal) albums that don’t sound like an entire tracklist of drinking songs. *cough* Alestorm *cough*. Luckily, there’s more than meets the eye… er… I mean ear... here.

In fact, there is a surprising amount of variety on display here, more so than on the previous album, which I gave a spin the other day just to see how it compares to this one. And I’m happy to say that I Skovens Rige doesn’t fully rely on stereotypical folk sounds to create memorable moments. There are a ton of different influences you’ll find while listening to this record. The opening song is an excellent example. You have the growls, some blast beats, an enjoyable folk chorus, and, halfway through, you’ll find a Sabaton hallmark: the one where the bass falls off, the bass drum is used as a focal point while they play a straightforward riff over it. It’s used on a dozen Sabaton songs to set up the next vocal part, and here it serves that same purpose. Simple yet very effective. It just works!

Now, I mentioned Alestorm earlier in my coughing fit, and how I’m not a huge fan of albums packed with nothing but “drinking songs”. What I am a fan of, however, is having one of them on your power metal or folk metal album to spice things up a bit. And, wouldn’t you know it, there’s not one but two of these on I Skovens Rige. I’m talking about “Til Gilde Under Bøgen” and “Skovfesten”. Expect the typical infectious happy chorus sound on these. So, one more than I like to see on an album like this, because usually I don’t have the patience/interest for two of them. But, honestly? Here I’m surprisingly okay with it. Why? Because Trold spaced them out perfectly on the tracklist (songs 4 and 9): ideal places to make them serve as nice breathing moments.

We have quite a few influences discussed already on Trold’s latest. But wait! There’s more! I Skovens Rige also houses some traditional heavy metal vibes in some of its songs. The prime example of that would be the instrumental song “Vår”. It has a very folky start and ending to it. But, as soon as the song really kicks into gear, it combines a guitar tone which I found to be similar to Dark Forest’s tone with a galloping drive you would expect in an Iron Maiden song. A very successful intermission in my book.

Any negatives? Well, I do think I Skovens Rige loses a little bit of steam towards the end. I find the first part of the album a bit more memorable overall. This might also have to do with some of the songs re-using a formula from the first part of the album (like “Skovfesten” serving as the drinking song for the second part of the album).

I Skovens Rige was a very nice surprise for me. When comparing this to Trold’s previous album, I think you will find more variety and experimentation on here. It blends all these different influences and ideas into one very cohesive and compelling package. This gets wholeheartedly a recommendation from me.

Performance:	9
Songwriting:	9
Originality:	8
Production:	8