Album Review: Fearlight - "Наш Завет"

Artist: Fearlight (Russia)
Album Title: Наш Завет (Our Legacy)
Label: Gardarika Musikk (Russia)
Released: 2007

Although I enjoy folk metal bands from all over Europe (and elsewhere), there's something about Russian bands that tends to resonate with me especially deeply. Over the past few years, I have found many great bands from there, beginning with my discovery of Pagan Reign and Arkona. I make it a point to seek out Russian folk metal bands, so I am always pleased to discover a new one. Fearlight came to my attention through a music video on Youtube, and I was immediately taken with their sound and image. I immediately ordered their debut CD, Our Legacy, and, for a few days, I couldn't listen to anything else.

Like many folk metal bands from Russia, Fearlight is a bit of a mystery to me. Their website doesn't seem to be up anymore, and there is very little information about them online. According to their label, they began in 2005 as a doom metal band, but not much else in the way of band information is given, except that they took their time completing Our Legacy due to their wanting the production and arrangements to be perfect. I was able to listen to their 2005 demo and was surprised at how their style changed between the demo and their debut album. Their early sound is very much rooted in gothic metal, and though a few elements of their sound have survived (the use of both female and male vocals), it might as well be an entirely different band.

Fearlight is a five-piece band from Saint Petersburg, Russia. There are two vocalists in the band, "Elf" (a male, and also the band's guitarist) and "Albinoni" (a female, and the band's keyboardist). Neither of them have particularly strong voices, but they sound fine on this album, especially when singing together. I wouldn't say that they harmonize (this isn't Odroerir); rather they seem to mostly sing in unison. They both have soft voices, which gives the music a bit more of a gentle, folky sound than most bands that call themselves folk metal. Elf also utilizes a harsh vocal style, but very rarely. The band also includes a bassist ("Sin K River") and a drummer ("Makmillan Arfist"), as well as a tin whistle- and bagpipe-player ("Scald").

Our Legacy somewhat alternates between slower, ballad-like songs, and faster ones. Many of the songs (like track 8, "Три девы" or "Three Wise Maids") sound very much like folk songs at their base, rather than metal songs with folk instruments added to the mix. The bagpipes and tin whistles are beautifully intertwined with the traditional metal instruments, and folk melodies (as well as elements of classical music) are all over this album. Those who accuse folk metal of being inauthentic in its relation to folk music should give this CD a listen.

Another feature of Our Legacy is the sheer addictiveness of this album. When I received it, I listened to it for a few hours in the evening, and then throughout the entire next day at work. This is one of those albums that, once I reach the end, I want to go back and listen to the beginning again. It doesn't hurt that the first actual song on the album (after the Intro), "Лес" or "The Wood," features a beautiful chorus that I love to hear again and again. And the fourth song, the title track, is one of those songs I could listen to on repeat all day. Fortunately, the rest of the album maintains a high level of quality, with nothing I would consider "filler." At 36 minutes, it's a brisk listen, but an immensely enjoyable and satisfying one. The one minor criticism I could make is that two of the songs use English lyrics, and they don't make any sense to me. What exactly does the line "Vanishing is me, like a mad in fears" mean? Fortunately, the broken English was not noticeable to me when listening to the album, but I hope that in the future they stick to the Russian lyrics.

The album finishes with an outro that features music by the great composer Modest Moussorgsky and some folk poetry. When it's all done, inevitably I begin at track 1 again and am never tempted to skip any of the tracks on my next listen. I've had the CD for a few weeks now and it continues to delight me, though I have listened to it dozens of times. Therefore, it is very easy for me to recommend it to fans of true folk metal. Fearlight may not be a well-known name in Russian folk metal yet (in comparison to Alkonost, Butterfly Temple, or Arkona), but after an album like this, they deserve to get a lot more recognition than they have gotten so far. Hopefully Gardarika Musikk will get the CD out there so that more people can hear it. Tracking it down on this side of the Atlantic is practically impossible. Fortunately the good folks at Dark Symphonies got in a few copies, though they sold out quickly.

I will do my small part to help spread the word about Fearlight by typing "BUY THIS!" and posting this review on my humble blog that nobody reads.

Album Review: Drudkh - "Estrangement"

Artist: Drudkh (Ukraine)
Album Title: Estrangement
Label: Supernal Music (U.K.)
Released: 2007

Although it's not very often we'll see an album by a pagan metal band from a country as obscure (in the metal world) as Ukraine grab the attention of underground metal critics, that's exactly what happened when Drudkh unleashed Blood In Our Wells upon the world in 2006. They had been quietly building up a fanbase for the previous couple of years, releasing a trio of albums that you will often see mentioned in "best of" lists on metal forums: Forgotten Legends, Autumn Aurora, and The Swan Road. But, for some reason, Blood In Our Wells managed to make Drudkh a bit of a critical darling in the world of underground extreme metal. Not bad for a band who never gives interviews or concerts, has never released any sort of band photo, and is often incorrectly identified as National Socialists.

As is inevitable, expectations were high for a follow-up to Blood In Our Wells. That album, to many, is the pinnacle of their impressive career. Then they managed to confound everyone, not once, but twice. The first was with the release of an instrumental folk album,Songs of Grief and Solitude, which many described as boring, and the 10" vinyl Anti-Urban EP, which most viewed as pointless and sub-par. Therefore, by the time Estrangement was released in 2007 (less than a year and a half after Blood In Our Wells), it seems that much of the crowd had dissipated. I suppose it's just as well, because Drudkh doesn't seem to welcome the attention.

Drudkh's sound is a little difficult to describe, at least if you want to do it any justice. They write very atmospheric and somewhat repetitive songs, often with a thick guitar tone, accompanied by lyrics taken from Ukrainian poetry and vocals that are kind of a rough shout rather than a growl or shriek. At first, they didn't use any keyboards, but ever since Autumn Aurora, the occasional keyboard will show up at just the perfect time. The band manages to evolve with each album, but on Estrangement they almost seem to devolve into a mixture of the sound they employed on the first few albums. However, they've improved in the way that the bass is now very audible (and well performed), and the songs, to me at least, seem less repetitive. The occasional solo is also welcome.

The few negatives I can come up with are that I don't really care for the way the drums are recorded, and that the album is a little on the short side. There are four songs, and it clocks in at about 36 minutes total. However, there is no filler, and even the instrumental that closes the album is great (and this is coming from a person who doesn't usually like instrumentals). They've trimmed out most of the use of samples, except for a very brief one that begins the album. This may be a good or a bad thing depending on whether or not you enjoyed the Ukrainian film and folk music samples from Blood In Our Wells.

There are always those who say that Drudkh is overrated, and Estrangement is not likely to silence those voices. It's a strange little album, and if I were more of a cynical type (I'm not, which is one reason why I make a very bad album reviewer) I would say that Drudkh kind of pushed this one out the door without much effort. However, I really enjoy Estrangement. I listen to it more often than I listen to their earlier albums, with the possible exception of Blood In Our Wells. It has kind of an addicting sound that I don't get tired of, even on those days when my attention span is shorter than usual. The songs are well constructed, the recording quality is good (except for the drums, as I already mentioned), and, even though they dialed back the epic qualities of their music, the beauty and melancholy is still very much present.

So, despite what the detractors might say, I find Drudkh to be an amazing band, and Estrangement is a great addition to their discography.

Album Review: Graveland - "Will Stronger Than Death"

Artist: Graveland (Poland)
Album Title: Will Stronger Than Death
Label: No Colours Records (Germany)
Released: 2007

Chances are, just about every fan of pagan metal has at least a passing familiarity with Graveland's Rob Darken. Whether it is the controversy he has courted over the years due to his political affiliations and interviews, or his flow of almost-yearly album releases, he remains a visible and outspoken figure in the scene.

I'm not much of a fan of Graveland's early, black metal, period. And I never really got into albums like Thousand Swords, despite having heard many good things about them. My introduction to Graveland (and I admit this rather sheepishly, since it will reveal me to be a relative newcomer) was 2005's Fire Chariot of Destruction, an excellent and epic album. I began tracking down many of his earlier releases, but Fire Chariot of Destruction remained my very favorite. Since with each release his production skills improved (and the "epic-ness" seemed to increase), I felt that Will Stronger Than Death would be even more sweeping.

However, I was shocked (and, admittedly, a little dismayed at first) to find that Will Stronger Than Death is actually a step back in many ways. The production is less clear and the keyboards and choirs are used less often than on its predecessor. It seems that maybe Rob Darken realized that he didn't want to continue travelling in that direction and made a bit of a departure. I was unhappy about this at first, but then I gave the album a chance and realized that, in many ways, this is quite possibly the best Graveland CD I've heard.

The key to the appeal of this album is, for the most part, the riffs. The riffs are like the sound of war. The drums help give it that effect as well. The riffs are repetitive, certainly, but they work together to cast a persistent mood throughout the album. The color of the album is almost entirely gray, like you're traveling into battle with clouds looming overhead. That kind of mood may cause some to tire of the album, since every song at least on a surface level sounds quite similar to the one that preceded it, but, if you're in the right mood, it's a very satisfying listen. The elements of the album will be familiar to anyone acquainted with the sound of modern Graveland (including that barely-decipherable, almost-emotionless croak of Darken's); it's the strong songwriting that helps it stand out from its already-strong predecessors.

I guess the easy way to say this is that if you didn't like any Graveland before, Will Stronger Than Death is not likely to win you over, but I think even fans of certain periods in Graveland's career who have been alienated by the newer albums may find this to be a pleasant surprise. As for me, I have heard enough comparisons to his earlier work that I may have to track down some more releases.