Band:	Kivimetsän Druidi
Album:	The New Chapter
Style:	Symphonic folk metal
Release date:	2007
A review by:	Jeff

01. The Tyrant
02. Burden
03. Kristallivuoren Maa [Re-Recorded]

Kivimetsän Druidi, the Finnish combo of Symphonic Folk Metal is back this year with a new Demo called "The New Chapter". The name was probably chosen in reason of the new departure of the band after that they have changed some of their members especially the female singer which is now replaced by Jenni Onishko. This is a new beginning, that's right and even if the music of the band has changed a bit I'm sure that you'll still like it.

In fact, the three songs of the Demo are really different, the first one "The Tyrant" sounds a bit like Finntroll with some symphonic female (and of course grunts too) vocals when the second song "Burden" is more in the vein of a Folky Nigthwish. It's not bad at all and we can see that the band still plays the same kind of Metal but obviously the new members came with their own influences too (especially Jenni Onishko who really sings like Tarja of Nightwish).

On the other hand, even if the production of the demo is really nice, I have to say that the voice of Jenni is not really convincing. It's not really easy to sing with a "symphonic" voice and sometime she is even a bit out of tune? It's not horrible but she will have to work a bit on her voice if she really want to become convincing.

"The New Chapter" gives some information about the future of Kivimetsän Druidi and it could be a great future if they find the way to find some little mistakes like the voice or like the lack of personality in the compositions sometime. But it's promising however and I believe that the band will be able to continue its career without a lot of problem and why not to release a first album soon. That's your next goal dudes!