Album Review: Graveland - Spears of Heaven

Artist: Graveland (Poland)
Album Title: Spears of Heaven
Record Label: No Colours (Germany)
Released: 2009

I have grown to love the music of Rob Darken's epic pagan metal project Graveland over the past few years, but I hate reading most reviews of his albums. Occasionally more "mainstream" metal writers will review a Graveland album, I suppose to show how open-minded they are to listen to something they find so detestable to their political beliefs, but they can't resist hurling cheap insults at Darken or spending half the review distancing themselves from his politics so as not to leave any doubt that their own politics are much more left-wing. Well, I'm not left-wing, for the most part, so if you're waiting for me to call Darken an "utter fool" or "forest-dwelling heathen LARPmaster" like one reviewer for a major metal website called him in his listless review of Spears of Heaven, you'll be waiting for a long time.

However, as much as I am a fan of Graveland, I cannot give Spears of Heaven a ringing endorsement as I am prone to doing on this little blog. Many of the things I enjoy about Graveland --the war-like atmosphere and imagery of epic battles for the survival of our race, the fire and passion that bleeds from every riff, lyrics that stir the pride of blood even though Darken's English is less than perfect-- are absent from this recording. This is a bit baffling, as the last few albums have had these qualities and more. The previous two albums, Fire Chariot of Destruction and Will Stronger Than Death, showed what seemed to be a re-energized Darken. They are both excellent releases, among the best in Graveland's discography. I'm not sure what went wrong with Spears of Heaven.

It's not all bad, despite what I said in the last paragraph, but I expected much more. The opening, title track begins in promising fashion with a war-like atmosphere and synthesized/sampled female choir voices like Valkyries announcing the new album. But then the first riff starts, and it's uninspiring. At least the drums sound good, though they seem to lack the driving force of the drums on the last few recordings, if I'm not imagining things. Darken's voice sounds pretty standard, a sort of croaking voice that doesn't do much but deliver the lyrics. Most of the basic building blocks seem to be there, so what's missing? I think it's all about the riffs, and the drums. I'm not expecting great riffs here, but normally the music adds up to some sort of atmosphere, created by the grim riffs, the war drums, and the epic feeling delivered by the choirs and synths, and I can't help but feel that it doesn't add up on this album. Spears of Heaven doesn't really give my mind any imagery, nor does it stir anything in my mind or my blood. It lacks inspiration or fire. Darken sounds as if he, when recording this album, was momentarily lacking the passion and pride that normally drives him to create the great, epic pagan metal that Graveland normally delivers. I'm hoping that that's the case, because I hate to think that this marks the beginning of a change in direction that will extend beyond this album.

Spears of Heaven is not without its positives, or its moments of greatness. There are a few good tracks to be found here, like "Flame of Doom" and "Sun Wind." If these songs weren't brought down a bit by the too-clean production, they would have been even better. "Sun Wind" even contains some energetic riffs that the album could have used more of. But then he finishes the album with "Return to the Northern Carpathian," which wouldn't be a bad track except for the almost four and a half minute intro, which is pretty bland and even contains some odd Hammond organ-sounding keys that gives it almost a 70's prog-rock vibe. Without the intro, this is a pretty solid track. It closes the album in good fashion, with some nice riffs and even some of that atmosphere I was looking for as the last few minutes wind down. It would also probably be among the shortest Graveland tracks of the last decade and a half, so maybe he felt the need to extend it with a pointless and long introduction.

Maybe I'm just missing something here. It wouldn't be the first time. It took me several months and several listens in various contexts before I could appreciate the greatness of Thousand Swords. Perhaps this is an album that will grow on me or even "click" with me as others have. I put off writing this review for a long time, hoping that my initial feelings were wrong. But now, several months after purchasing Spears of Heaven, and many, many listens later, I'm just not feeling anything towards it. It's not painful to listen to (unless being somewhat bored brings pain to you), but when I listen to it, I often think about what I would rather be listening to, like Thousand Swords, Memory and Destiny, or Fire Chariot of Destruction.

It's not difficult for me to recommend Graveland, but it is difficult for me to recommend Spears of Heaven, except to hardcore Graveland fans and completists. But, then again, maybe it was unfair for me to expect another album with an atmosphere of war? The prevalent theme of Spears of Heaven seems to be Valkyries, so perhaps that could explain the change. Whatever the reason, I hope that the next Graveland album proves that this is only a small speed-bump, and that Darken will be back on track to inspire us again.

Album Review: Dalriada - Arany-Album

Artist: Dalriada (Hungary)
Album Title: Arany-Album
Record Label: Nail Records (Hungary)
Released: 2009

One of my favorite folk metal bands, Dalriada, is back with an awesome new album, this time with all lyrics taken from the great Hungarian poet János Arany. Once again, this album seems to have gotten little promotion or distribution outside of Hungary, so I ordered it from the Hungarian Music Store on Ebay. This is an annoyance I've brought up on the past two Dalriada reviews I did, and the problem continues so I'm mentioning it again.

Anyway, despite the obscurity of the band and the difficulty in legally obtaining their releases, all of Dalriada's albums thus far have been worth the trouble to find, in my opinion, and Arany-Album is no exception. This album contains 13 tracks (with no throw-away or filler tracks to be found), the first seven being brand new songs and the other six being re-recordings of songs from past Dalriada/Echo of Dalriada releases. The six re-recorded songs include the three songs that made up the original Echo of Dalriada demo, A Walesi Bárdok, plus three songs whose original versions appeared on Fergeteg, Jégbontó, and Kikelet, respectively. The seven new songs make up a little more than 40 minutes of the album, while the remainder of the 75 total minutes of Arany-Album are the re-recordings.

It hasn't been very long since the 2008 release of Szelek, and the band still sounds much the same (a unique form of folk-infused power/gothic metal with female and male vocals, and a few elements of extreme metal thrown into the mix), with some changes and additions to the personnel. Bassist György Varga and keyboard player András Kurz (the latter of whom was relied on very heavily for the folk parts on the previous album) are gone. In their place are István Molnár and Barnabás Ungár, respectively. I'm not sure if it's the result of having a new keyboard player, but the synths are not as prominent on this album as they were on Szelek, where they mimicked instruments such as the accordion. On the seven new tracks the band is joined by some guest musicians, including a flute player and a few strings players. Violin, viola, double bass, some form of lute, and perhaps other instruments for which I could not find English translations are used on the album. These instruments appear prominently in the new tracks, and greatly enhance the songs on which they appear. However, the band apparently made the decision not to use these instruments on the six re-recorded tracks (except for a short part on the last track), so those are mostly unchanged from the earlier versions, other than improved recording quality, some changes in vocals, and some different keyboard arrangements. Speaking of vocals, drummer Tadeusz Rieckmann contributed low, death metal-like growls at various parts, while guitarist/vocalist András Ficzek handles the higher-pitched shrieks along with his normal sung vocals. Oh, and vocalist Laura Binder plays flute again on this album, something she used to do but hasn't done (at least in a recording) since Jégbontó.

All right, now that that's out of the way, how are the new tracks? Quite excellent! The album begins in strong form with "Zách Klára," a song that will likely be considered a Dalriada classic. This song is pretty epic, with a lot of mood and tempo changes. It's mostly a pretty upbeat song, with great vocals from András, Laura, and Tadeusz, some fast folky parts, and even a wicked keyboard solo. The band doesn't really capitalize on that momentum, however, and slow things down after that. Most of the album is kept at a medium pace, and the band confidently strides through the new material, showing their strong instrumental and songwriting abilities while keeping things tasteful. The album is strongly melodic, and the melodies are unlike what you'll normally hear in any sort of metal. They seem to be strongly influenced by Hungarian folk music. If you're getting tired of hearing the same types of melodies from folk metal bands, you might find Dalriada to be refreshing. Another standout track on the album is "Szent László (2. rész)," which has irresistible vocal harmonizing and some nice violin parts.

I must mention that the vocals are an area where this band has notably improved over the years. András has learned to lean on the strengths of his range rather than strain his voice to reach a lot of high notes, and his vocal lines weave wonderfully within the vocal lines of Laura Binder, whose voice only grows more enchanting with every Dalriada release. Sometimes they harmonize, sometimes they'll sing back and forth (like a conversation), while other times they'll be singing entirely different things at the same time, yet it all goes together well.

There's a noticeable shift that takes place between the new tracks and the re-recorded tracks. The band has made a lot of progressions in their songwriting over the years, but they don't bother to change the older songs much, so even if you're not familiar with the original recordings you may notice the change in the middle of Arany-Album. The biggest improvements, particularly in the songs from A Walesi Bárdok and Fergeteg, are in the production and the performances themselves. The band has come a long way since their demo days, and I must admit that it's very nice to hear these songs re-recorded. It makes me wonder what the rest of Fergeteg would sound like re-recorded. The changes are less noticeable on the two chapters that make up "Szondi Két Apródja," as the originals still stand up quite well. The second chapter's prominent (and strangely futuristic sounding) synth part has been done away with on the re-recording, which was impossible for me to not notice.

Dalriada has paid a worthy metal tribute to a great poet with Arany-Album. One can hardly imagine that Arany would not be pleased with and honored by what the band has done here, metal fan or not. Hungary may not have much in the way of bands in this genre, but they have a reason to be proud with Dalriada carrying the banner for Hungarian folk metal. With the Arany-Album, they've added to their impressive discography and have crafted an album that can stand alongside the very best the genre has to offer. Authentic, sincere, musically adept and with great songwriting skills; what more can one ask for?

Not surprisingly, I highly recommend this one.

Album Review: Velvet Cacoon - P aa opal Poere Pr. 33

Artist: Velvet Cacoon (United States)
Album Title: P aa opal Poere Pr. 33
Record Label: Starlight Temple Society (United States)
Released: 2009

Velvet Cacoon doesn't fall under pagan metal by any means, but this is one of the few non-pagan black metal projects in which I still have any interest at all (the others would probably be Leviathan/Lurker of Chalice, and Blut Aus Nord). I'm admittedly drawn to the mysteries and scandals of music artists, and Velvet Cacoon has been a constant source of both over the years. If you haven't familiarized yourself with the VC saga, pop yourself some popcorn and spend a few hours online trying to make sense of it all. It's ridiculous. Velvet Cacoon is a sea of misinformation, pretension, nonexistent releases, and stolen releases. My conclusion after the four years or so that I've been listening to this project is that it started as a typical "bedroom" one-man black metal project, but the guy behind it ("Josh") decided that he wanted some notoriety while also exploiting the gullible nature of music fans and their hunger for mystery, so he surrounded the project with outlandish claims. Reading interviews with the guy makes me roll my eyes so much they actually start to hurt. If it weren't for the fact that Velvet Cacoon occasionally makes music that I find very interesting and enjoyable, I would have jumped ship a long time ago.

P aa opal Poere Pr. 33 was announced, I believe, in 2007, and artwork and a tracklisting were released for the album before anything had even been recorded. When the music-stealing scandal took place, it appeared as if the album would never see the light of day, and long-suffering label Full Moon Productions scrambled to pacify VC fans and released a CD version of old demo Dextronaut, along with a bonus CD of bland "dark ambient" music. This year FMP released a double-CD of similarly bland ambient music of Velvet Cacoon titled Atropine, and I just assumed that P aa opal Poere Pr. 33 had been swept under the carpet.

Velvet Cacoon's 2004 album Genevieve and 2005 follow-up/predecessor (depending on what you believe) Northsuite are two albums I really enjoy. They feature obscure, atmospheric black metal with vocals that take the form of sickly hisses, simple but effective melodies, and hints of piano and ambient music. Supposedly, the lyrics are inspired by both nature and drugs. I don't know if that's true at all, but it provides VC with an interesting backdrop that sets them apart from most black metal bands. When I saw P aa opal Poere Pr. 33 listed among the VC discography on Encyclopedia Metallum, I assumed it was a hoax. I was surprised to find out later that not only did it exist, but that it was a metal album. I was further surprised to see that it was released on artsy D.I.Y. label Starlight Temple Society rather than Full Moon Productions, but the positive to all this was that the album was very inexpensive to purchase and it is uniquely packaged. The disc is in a black paper sleeve similar to how some software discs come packaged. The paper sleeve slips inside what appears to be an oversized CD insert (I believe it's the size of what would come with a 7" vinyl release), so the great artwork is larger than what you'd usually get. This is then inserted into a black envelope with two lines of poetry embossed in silver on the front, and finally the whole package is put inside a resealable cellophane packet. Artsy, yes. Pretentious, perhaps. But pretty nice, though I can't fit it among my CD's, which is a bit of a pain.

The biggest surprise, however, is the music itself. It doesn't sound much at all like Genevieve or Northsuite, except that it's still atmospheric and somewhat mysterious. The music on P aa opal Poere Pr. 33 is what I would describe as very slow, doom-ish black metal. The pace is generally kept to a crawl, and the melody is largely driven by the bass and what sounds to my ears like a person humming along with the bass. Yeah, it's a little weird. It reminds me a bit of one of the Forest (the Blazebirth Hall band) CD's in that respect. The vocals, for the most part, are done by someone called "Cain" from a Canadian black metal band called Snowfall. I've never heard Snowfall, but they seem like they're about as pretentious as Velvet Cacoon, except with an emphasis on drinking heavy amounts of alcohol along with their drugs. Eh, whatever. They could have gotten just about anyone to do vocals and it couldn't have been much less interesting than Cain's performance on this CD, which is inoffensive but utterly unremarkable. Fortunately, "Josh" himself contributes vocals towards the end of the album, on "Oviamoire" and "Sovarine." That these two tracks are probably the strongest on the album may or may not be coincidental. The drums appear to be provided by a drum machine, but it sounds pretty solid and contains more complex patterns than the largely-blasting nature of the drum machine on Genevieve. According to the insert, the music is by SGL ("Josh") and LVG ("Angela"). "Angela" supposedly plays guitar. "She" also does some of the interviews. I don't believe that "Angela" actually exists at all, and nor do the other six or eight or however many other women who were allegedly members of Velvet Cacoon during the period when it was self-described as a collective of musicians.

Six of the eight tracks on the album are metal, while one is an instrumental, somewhat ambient piece, and the other consists of a man and a woman whispering to each other in French. They appear to be in a tent next to a crackling fire, but I don't know what's supposed to be going on. Like much of the mystery around Velvet Cacoon, it probably means nothing at all. Overall the album has a nautical theme. The poetry embossed on the envelope describe a crab crawling along the bottom of the sea, and Chesapeake Bay (in the Virginia and Maryland area of the United States' East coast) is mentioned by name in the insert.

This is a strange album. I would expect nothing less than a project as weird as Velvet Cacoon. However, it's also a unique and enjoyable album. There are some very nice, but dark, melodies, and an enveloping, cavernous atmosphere that would be especially interesting to listen to in the proper context (or, less likely, in the proper drug-altered state, according to the claims of "Josh").

The only thing I don't like about this album is the fact that it wasn't released by Full Moon Productions. With all that VC has put that label through over the years (FMP has had to act as a spokesperson for "Josh" and went into damage control mode after the music-stealing scandal of 2007), the least "Josh" could have done is allowed them to release what is actually a pretty fine follow-up to Genevieve and Northsuite. Instead, FMP gets stuck with Atropine, an ambient album that even they don't seem enthusiastic about putting forth the effort to release, and unknown artsy label Starlight Temple Society gets the privilege to present P aa opal Poere Pr. 33. I'm sure that the folks at STS are fine people, but it doesn't seem fair to deny FMP the chance to release this album on their label, being as how they've stuck with VC through years of lies.

Ah, whatever. A good album for black metal fans looking for something unique but highly listenable.

Album Review: Hellveto - Od Południa na Północ...

Artist: Hellveto (Poland)
Album Title: Od Południa na Północ...
Record Label: Ritual Execution Productions (Poland)
Released: 2009

Before Hellveto's Neoheresy was released in late 2008, there was a build-up of anticipation due to the promotion given the album by Pulverised Records. They have been the primary label of Hellveto since 2006's In the Glory of Heroes, while at the same time band mastermind L.O.N. has used his own Ritual Execution label to release reissues of demos and compilations of new and old Hellveto material. However, in the case of Hellveto's first 2009 release Od Południa na Północ... --and I say first because there is a second full-length, Kry, scheduled to be released at the end of 2009-- the Ritual Execution label was used to release a full-length album of brand-new material, and it arrived with no hype or promotion. It's also limited to 1,000 copies, I believe. I was excited when I found out about this album, as I am always in the mood for new Hellveto, so I picked it up as soon as I could, thanks to Red Stream's distro.

If you're familiar with 2008's Neoheresy, or at least the artwork, you may notice that the artwork of Od Południa na Północ... is very similar. This, plus the fact that there is a song called "World of Neoheresy" on the new album, leads me to conclude that this new album is meant to be a companion of sorts to Neoheresy. Hellveto albums are sometimes criticized because they sound so similar, but to fans, each album gains its own identity with repeated listens. However, in this case, it really does sound like a companion piece to Neoheresy. The title track, which opens the album, even sounds very similar to Neoheresy's opening track, "Taran," except a few minutes shorter.

If you're already familiar with Hellveto, you already know what to expect: high quality orchestral pagan black metal, which basically means it sounds like black metal performed with an orchestra along with the traditional guitars, bass, and drums. There have been a number of bands utilizing orchestral music programs in recent years, like Turisas and now Ensiferum, but L.O.N. has been doing this with his Hellveto and Blakagir projects for a decade now, and he continues to improve his craft while releasing a steady stream of full-lengths.

Od Południa na Północ... is another high-quality release in the Hellveto catalogue, and by now you may already know whether or not you want this CD. If you're among those who haven't heard the work of this great, underrated artist, I recommend you check out one of the many full-length albums released over the years. Almost all of them are a great place to start, including this latest CD. It doesn't really tread any new ground, though it does seem to bring back the distorted, Filosofem-era Burzum vocals on a few tracks, and it does seem to emphasize the orchestra more than Neoheresy did. However, for the most part, this is good, familiar Hellveto, and for me and many other fans, that's quite good enough.

New Arkona and Menhir videos

I would embed these if I could, but it messes up the formatting (on my computer, at least), so just follow the links:

Arkona - "Goi, Rode, Goi!"

Menhir - "Das Hildebrandslied (Teil I)"

Album Review: Drudkh - Microcosmos

Artist: Drudkh (Ukraine)
Album Title: Microcosmos
Record Label: Season of Mist (France/U.S.)
Released: 2009

The mysterious Drudkh may have faltered a bit since 2006's fantastic Blood In Our Wells, but their new album Microcosmos shows the band back on top of their game. That's not to say that their folk album Songs of Grief & Solitude and their 2007 full-length Estrangement aren't worthy releases (I can't say anything for the Anti-Urban EP, as I haven't heard it), but they seemed to have halted in their tracks, unable to progress or to top classics like Autumn Aurora or Blood In Our Wells.

In the meantime, allegedly a business deal gone bad resulted in the band falling into debt, and as a result they moved from longtime UK label Supernal Music to the larger and better-distributed label Season of Mist. It may not have been Drudkh's intent to garner more attention, but that seems to be what happened. There was a lot of anticipation and debate leading up to the release of Microcosmos, so it was a bit of a relief to find that Drudkh is still one of the more important bands in the genre and deserve the growing attention they've been receiving, whether or not they welcome it.

The four lengthy metal tracks on Microcosmos are bookended by two traditional instrumental pieces, which should not be a surprise to anyone by now. And when track #2, Далекий Крик Журавлів ("Distant Cries of Cranes"), begins in rather familiar fashion, one might be tempted to think that Drudkh had taken a "by the numbers" approach to their new album. However, after a few minutes it became apparent to me that this was not the case. The sound may not be new, but the band has progressed in subtle ways, while also smoothing out the rough edges that marred Estrangement. There is a warm, poetic atmosphere to "Distant Cries of Cranes," an atmosphere that would continue throughout the remaining tracks. Microcosmos has a reflective, majestic sound, but not particularly brutal or angry despite Thurios' shouted black metal vocals.

Also notable is the brilliant bass-playing, presumably by Roman Saenko or possibly Krechet, and the much-improved drumming of Vlad. The drumming and the drum recording was a definite weak spot on Estrangement, but that's completely washed away with the varied and highly competent performance on this album. And I can't say enough about the solos, which are present on each of the metal tracks and are always appropriate and tasteful. They never overstay their welcome and are used to add another layer to the expertly-woven fabric that is each excellent track, rather than to show off skills or to pad out a song.

Декаданс ("Decadence") begins with a pleasant riff that possibly goes on a little too long, but a nice build-up occurs during the repetition of this riff (kind of like the beginning of Darkestrah's "The Silk Road") and after a few minutes it switches to one of the more melancholic-sounding sections of the album. The mood seems to shift often on this track, which may correspond with the mood of the lyrics but I'm not sure.

"Ars Poetica" begins with a rather bright and sunny riff that initially sounds out of place, but it melts so nicely into the rest of the song that it no longer seems so incongruous. The song turns melancholy for a while and then becomes nothing short of incredible. The track ends in a most satisfying manner, and by this point the album should have silenced all but the most stubborn critics.

But there's still more. Все, Що Не Сказано Раніше ("Everything Unsaid Before") picks up the pace and throws in what is probably the most technical set of guitar solos on the Microcosmos. Some acoustic guitars, accompanied by the bass, bridge the gap between the long intro of the song and the point where the vocals begin, at around the 3:30 mark. This is probably the closest the band gets to sounding angry on this album, as this song is a little darker and less "sunny" than the song before it. The track ends with a particularly dark riff that fades into the folk outro, ending the album on a mysterious note.

While the sound of Microcosmos (lush riffs, lengthy songs, melancholic atmosphere) is familiar Drudkh, it would be erroneous to say that the band is treading water or taking the same road they've traveled many times before. I find that the song structures are more complex than can be found on their earlier albums, with more in the way of mood and time changes. Autumn Aurora is a classic, but enjoying it requires a longer attention span than is needed to enjoy this album. Will some say that Drudkh is going "commercial" or "mainstream" with Microcosmos? Possibly, but I think it is more likely that Microcosmos is the product of a band that is maturing and becoming more comfortable with its sound but, at the same time, refuses to be boxed in. They seem to exist in a world apart from the critics, the fans, the expectations, and the endless forum debates (most of which end up turning into a political argument anyway), yet the most important part of all, crafting great songs, is obviously still high on Drudkh's priority list.

Microcosmos is the album to beat in 2009, in my opinion. If you're new to Drudkh, this is as good a place to start as any, and if you're already a fan, there's no reason you shouldn't own this. And if anyone tells you that extreme metal is morbid, thoughtless, and has little value for intelligent people, Microcosmos would be a good album to play in order to silence their ignorance.

Album Review: Крада - Аз Есьм Огонь!

Artist: Крада (Krada) [Russia]
Album Title: Аз Есьм Огонь! (I Am Fire!)
Record Label: Volh Records (Russia)
Released: 2009

Volh Records has managed to track down another obscure Russian gem in the band Krada. They are a mysterious band, with no member credits, no website or Myspace, and no information about where and when they formed. Judging from the band pictures I've seen, Krada looks to be a young band, and rather "normal" looking for metal musicians (no long hair, face paint, costumes, etc.). The unassuming exterior hides a fierce, raging pagan fire of a metal band, one that can compete with just about any other in the genre when it comes to musical ferocity and anger.

Their first album, Steps, which was released in 2008, showed promise yet was not anything spectacular. Krada practically sounded like two different bands on that CD: the one being a rather typical symphonic black metal band, blasting along at a thousand miles per hour; the other being nice-sounding folk band. Only on one track, the title track of that album, did it all manage to more or less mesh together. On their sophomore release, the appropriately titled I Am Fire!, it appears that the split personalities of Krada have blended into one great metal band with a healthy dose of folk to give it some nice pagan atmosphere.

A lot of the aforementioned ferocity of the band comes from the vocalist, whose venom-filled voice is given a lot of room to snarl its way through the songs. His voice has that really angry sound that reminds me of the vocals of Rodosvet and Dub Buk. In fact, the overall style of Krada would fit pretty well between those two bands. It's black metal but with varied pacing and some thrash metal in the mix. The drummer does far more than just blastbeats on the album, though those are still easy to find. Some competent flute playing, audible bass, mild but atmospheric keyboards, and occasional female vocals and what sounds like a zhaleika add some flavor to the album.

The production sounds good but not over-polished. The instruments are all clearly audible, and the guitar sound is kept just raw enough to give it some grit but not so raw that you can't hear the melodic riffs. In other words, the album sounds great and I wouldn't change anything about the production.

Unlike the too-brief debut album, this one clocks in at a solid 40 minutes and doesn't waste much of its playing time. There are two brief instrumentals among the eleven tracks, one being an arrangement of a Rimsky-Korsakov piece, apparently. The strange thing about the CD is that it is divided into two chapters. The first chapter ends with a nice Russian-language cover of Burzum's "War," which is track 7 on this disc, and then track 8 begins the second chapter of the album with an instrumental, followed by two metal tracks and another instrumental. Was this second chapter originally meant to be a separate recording? I have no idea. At least it all seems to go together and doesn't create a distraction when I listen to it.

Krada is a good fit for the solid Volh Records lineup and I hope to hear more from this young band. They're not a well-known name in Eastern European pagan metal yet, but this album is good enough that they should gain some well-deserved attention. If you're a fan of the other bands on that label, like Piarevaracien or Znich, or bands like Kamaedzitca, Rodosvet, and Dub Buk, you'll probably find Krada's I Am Fire! to be a welcome addition to your collection.

Album Review: Natural Spirit - Сита Роса

Artist: Natural Spirit (Ukraine)
Album Title: Сита Роса ("Rain" in ancient Slavonic)
Record Label: Sound Age (Russia) / Stormspell Records (USA)
Released: 2008 (Sound Age) / 2009 (Stormspell)

The debut CD of Natural Spirit, Русколунь, was a pretty solid pagan metal CD that went mostly unnoticed. The band disappeared for a while after its release and actually relocated to Kiev... or, rather, vocalist/guitarist Oleg Kirienko relocated to Kiev, and had to reassemble the band from scratch afterwards. Four years later, with an entirely new band backing him (some of whom have since left the fold), Natural Spirit re-emerged with their second album, Сита Роса, and, quite surprisingly, it's nothing short of excellent.

Let me preface this by saying that the most appealing element of Сита Роса, for me, is female vocalist Katerina Prischepa, and unfortunately she has since left the band. However, I've seen some live clips on Youtube of their new female vocalist performing with the band, and she appears to have a great voice as well. At least they were able to document Katerina's time with the band with her performance on this album, which is frequently breathtaking. Her voice appears trained and confident, and I seem to detect a bit of folk style as well.

It's hard for me to adequately describe the "sound" of Natural Spirit. There are elements of what some have dubbed "Beauty and the Beast" metal, with the contrast between Oleg's harsh, black metal vocals, and Katerina's heavenly, somewhat operatic vocals. I guess you could even compare them to Alkonost due to the vocals and the guitar leads. A few songs are dominated by Oleg's vocals, but even then Natural Spirit doesn't really sound like black metal. I guess I can only call it folk metal, though there are no traditional instruments used. The "folk" sound is produced by the guitar leads and keyboards, as well as the sound of the female vocals, and underneath it is a solid foundation of heavy metal with a strong production job. By the way, all lyrics are in Ukrainian, which is a beautiful language to hear, whether sung or shrieked, and it was a good choice for the band to continue writing their lyrics in their own tongue.

Natural Spirit's Сита Роса is a great mix of accessibility and depth, which makes it a good choice for Stormspell Records to have licensed for the North American market. The songs are catchy and interesting throughout the album, and there's a nice variety in the songs, from faster, more aggressive tunes like Дива ("Diva") to the ballad-like Сон ("Dream"). Overall there's just a really pleasant, inviting sound to this album. If you're new to Slavonic pagan/folk metal, this is a great place to start, and if you already have a sizeable collection of it, you also should add this one if you haven't already.

Natural Spirit may not be a household name in this style of music, but, after a great release like Сита Роса, they deserve to gain a lot of attention.

Album Review: Crimfall - As the Path Unfolds...

Artist: Crimfall (Finland)
Album Title: As the Path Unfolds...
Record Label: Napalm Records (Germany/USA)
Released: 2009

Immediately appealing and accessible, but lacking depth... that's pretty much my review in a nutshell. I still enjoy this album, and I even lent it to a friend that I've been trying to slowly introduce to pagan/folk metal, but if you're looking for a folk metal album with a lot of substance, you're not going to find it here. Read on if you'd like.

I don't know much about Crimfall. Apparently it started out as a solo project of Jakke Viitala, who plays the guitars and programs the convincing synthetic orchestral arrangements, which, by the way, are very well-done. Eventually Jakke added the vocal talents of Mikko Häkkinen, who handles the harsh vocals, and Helena Haaparanta, whose soaring and beautiful voice is perhaps the glue that holds this album together. Crimfall's debut CD seemed to come out of nowhere, and after reading a very positive review of it elsewhere, I pre-ordered the album.

What immediately struck me is the high production values in the orchestral arrangements. Sure, they're sampled, but they sound great, like the arrangements of Turisas. The next thing that grabbed me is the catchy songwriting in songs such as "Where Waning Winds Lead." Sure, I would approximate the overall sound to Nightwish or Tristania rather than Moonsorrow or Arkona, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a good deal of enjoyment from this album in the first several spins.

Another positive element of their sound is the surprising use of Middle Eastern sounds. The second instrumental, "Sun Orphaned," sounds like something out of the Gladiator film soundtrack. And then the following track, "Ascension Pyre," sounds like it could have come from the great Israeli metal band Orphaned Land, at least for the first 35 seconds or so.

However, the album isn't perfect. Moments such as the chorus of "Shadow Hearth" and the ballad "Aubade" venture a little too far into Nightwish territory for me. And the lyrics are more vague than I'd like, though they're not badly written. But the album ends strongly with "Hundred Shores Distant" --which sounds at the beginning as if it could be an old Moonsorrow track, at least until the female vocals begin-- and the final instrumental, "Novembré," which closes the album on a sombre and calm note.

I don't listen to As the Path Unfolds... nearly as much as I did in the first week or so, as it lacks the kind of depth to keep me firmly in its claws, but I still feel that it's a good album that should appeal to a wide range of fans within the folk metal genre and elsewhere. And I think that's where it has its place: as a gateway drug of sorts to the fascinating world of pagan/folk metal. Perhaps it will sink its hooks into new listeners and encourage them to delve deeper into the genre.

Album Review: Crom - Vengeance

Artist: Crom (Germany)
Album Title: Vengeance
Record Label: Pure Steel Records (Germany)
Released: 2008

Now here is a pretty interesting project. The one-man band of a former Dark Fortress guitarist, Crom is kind of a mix of traditional and power metal filtered through the lens of Bathory's "Viking period." If that sounds appealing to you, it's because it should. The band has a great aesthetic, driven by some solid songwriting and the appealing vocals of Crom himself. His vocals are strong and melodic, perhaps not unlike Quorthon in the moments when he actually sang pretty well (as in "The Ravens" or "Ring of Gold"), but much more confident. They sound much better and natural to me than "power metal" vocals, and I'm sure others will appreciate the lack of "black metal" style vocals.

There's a nice variety among the 10 tracks that make up Crom's debut full-length, Vengeance. There are shorter and more direct songs (like opener "Wings of Fire" and, ahem "The Fire"); some longer, epic tunes (like "The Restless King" and "Hammer of the Gods"); and even a couple ballads ("Crom" and "A Life Unbearable"). Some lyrics seem to be inspired by Norse folklore, perhaps through Bathory, but they're too vague for me to call this "Viking metal." I feel more comfortable calling it something like "heroic metal," instead. The lyrics, I feel, are the only somewhat weak link on the album, but I may feel this way because I was expecting a stronger influence of paganism rather than what sounds like more modern fantasy-style themes. This probably won't bother most people, though. One song that really seems out of place, however, is "A Life Unbearable," which isn't a bad song, musically, but the lyrics are more personal and despairing, as if Crom wrote them in a tear-filled evening after his girlfriend broke up with him. It ends in true emo style with the repeated line, "I'll end my life!"

That hiccup aside, what remains is quite a good album. At times Crom really does sound like Bathory, with his use of layered "Viking choir" vocals and (appropriate) epic guitar leads. And I think the more traditional structure of the songs will appeal to a larger variety of metal fans.

There's not really much else I have to say about the album. It's easy enough to find samples online, so I encourage you to judge for yourself. The great vocals, solid musicianship, and strong songwriting come together to form an album that any fan of heroic-themed metal should check out.

Album Review: Finsterforst - ...zum Tode hin

Artist: Finsterforst (Germany)
Album Title: ...zum Tode hin
Record Label: Einheit Produktionen (Germany)
Released: 2009 (February)

I don't often pre-order albums, but I felt that the follow-up to 2007's promising Weltenkraft certainly warranted it. For this release, Finsterforst moved up to the solid German metal label Einheit Produktionen, home of some great bands like Odroerir, Nomans Land, and Andras. I'm guessing that either the move to this label gave the band a lot of exposure, or simply that ...zum Tode hin got a lot of people's attention for other reasons, because if you go to a place like rateyourmusic.com you'll find a surprisingly high number of reviews, both positive and negative, for a pagan metal album that hasn't even been out for two months as of this writing.

Chances are, you probably already know who Finsterforst is, and may already have a strong opinion one way or another about them. Their first album was a solid but exhausting 77-minute long collection of epic, accordion-filled metal. If you just winced at the term "accordion-filled metal," please walk away now, because that's what it is. On second thought, don't walk away. Give them a chance. If any metal band has a chance of convincing you that the accordion is an instrument that belongs in metal, it's probably Finsterforst. Yeah, okay, you've also got Korpiklaani and Kalevala, which also have great accordion players (and don't forget the band Svarga from Russia), but none of these bands are as epic and heavy as Finsterforst.

Apart from the accordion, what does this band sound like? They sound to me like a mix of Moonsorrow circa 2001-2003 and Moonsorrow 2005-present, but with some Finntroll and Equilibrium thrown in as well. The songs are long and have a wonderful, organic flow to them. There's an almost ever-present synth choir (thus part of the Moonsorrow comparison), some lovely acoustic guitar moments, mostly-harsh vocals, occasional soaring lead guitar lines, great and varied drumming, and of course that accordion. The songs are quite folk-infused, often incorporating the humppa-influenced rhythms of Finntroll. There are also moments of "Viking choir" and solo clean vocals, though most of the vocals are delivered in a somewhat-monotonous shriek. Former Eluveitie member Sevan Kirder plays tin whistle at a few points on the album, as he did on Weltenkraft.

The main difference, I think, between the first album and this one, is in the construction of the songs. Weltenkraft consisted of 10 songs that were between 5 and 13 1/2 minutes long. ...zum Tode hin consists of 5 tracks which are between 11 and 21 1/2 minutes long. The songs on ...zum Tode hin take more time to develop, and many of the melodies unfold more slowly, which I think helps them leave a more lasting impression, on me at least. The band seemed to really fly through the material on the first album (maybe because they realized that a CD can only hold 80 minutes of music total), but they take their time making their way through this album. Sure, there are still a lot of fast moments, and even some blasting, but the songs have more room to breathe. Maybe that's a terrible description and I'm completely off, I'm not sure.

As far as drawbacks of this album go, well, I guess it can still be a exhausting listen if you're not prepared for a 70-minute long album with only 5 songs. Also, if you're not paying attention, it can pretty easily turn into background noise, because even though the songs are very good, they're also kind of similar to each other. This may be an album you have to listen to in different settings before it clicks, like maybe a long car ride through the country. I found it to be way too much to properly absorb in a few listens, but it has definitely grown on me the more I listen to it.

I think that ...zum Tode hin may prove to be one of the better metal albums of 2009, at least in the pagan metal genre. There's not a huge amount of originality here, but fans of Moonsorrow (particularly the second and third albums) or Equilibrium will likely find a lot to enjoy with Finsterforst. I would love to be able to see this band live, so if Paganfest ever comes around to the States again, somebody please sign these guys up. And don't give them one of those 30-minute sets, because they'll probably only get to play a song and a half in that amount of time.

Finsterforst is definitely, in my opinion, one of the best newer bands in pagan/folk metal, and they're worthy of even more attention. ...zum Tode hin is a great sophomore release that builds on the promise of Weltenkraft and managed to blow away my expectations. Highly recommended.

Album Review: Ancestral Volkhves - Perun Do Vas!!!

Artist: Ancestral Volkhves (Slovakia)
Album Title: Perun Do Vas!!!
Label: Sound Age (Russia)
Released: 2008

You haven't heard of Ancestral Volkhves, or have simply never checked them out? Well, you're not alone, but if you lean towards the more riff-based, black metal side of pagan metal, you should certainly take notice of their latest album, Perun Do Vas!!! Oh, did I mention that the frontwoman of Russian folk metal legends Arkona makes a few appearances on the album? Maybe that got someone's attention.

This is not a folk metal album. This is mostly no-nonsense, pagan-themed black metal. To my ears, it sounds a lot like the first Hromovlad CD, if I may compare an unknown album to an equally unknown album. Once you hit the "play" button, Perun Do Vas!!! takes less than 30 seconds to get up to full, blasting speed, though the riffs are melodic and there's a good amount of variety, so this is no tuneless, "norsecore" blastfest. I have the first Ancestral Volkhves CD, Son O Iriyi, but it can't really keep my interest. On Perun Do Vas!!!, however, the Slovaks have really hit on something.

It doesn't hurt, of course, that they employed the help of Arkona mastermind Masha "Scream" as guest vocalist on three songs. Her presence pretty much makes any song awesome, and she does a really great job here as well. She appears on "Perun Do Vas!!!," "Slavorozhdenie," and "My Slavjane!!!," which are all great performances, but "Slavorozhdenie" is the highlight of the album, for me at least. It's a mid-paced song with a pretty folky rhythm, something that would not sound very out of place on an Arkona album (except for its lack of keyboards or traditional instruments), and Masha's layered vocals are really given room to shine. There are also some great clean male vocals on this track. The clean vocals appear elsewhere, but not much. Most of the vocals are done in a cold but powerful black metal rasp, and are certainly an improvement over the vocals on the first album, which I thought were rather weak.

Don't think that Masha is the only reason you should check out Perun Do Vas!!! If you're a fan of solid, melodic riffs, you'll find them in abundance here. The band doesn't use keyboards at all, but the music is still very epic because of the riffs. There are flutes on the final track, but that's it for folk instruments. Most of this album is straightforward black metal, but the songwriting, performances, and variety in tempo should keep the interest of those who, like me, only have a passing interest in this kind of black metal. Unlike on Son O Iriyi, all of the lyrics here are in the Slovak language (though Masha's vocal parts may be in Russian... I'm not sure, as the lyrics in the book are all printed in Roman font) rather than being mostly English. For whatever reason, Slavic languages sound great when shrieked or growled. The production is also quite good and clean, but not too clean. This is still mostly a black metal album, after all.

Perun Do Vas!!! is a pretty solid album throughout, and if you like black metal but aren't afraid of occasional clean vocals and some minor folk influence, or if you like pagan metal but aren't afraid of some fierce black metal, you may want to add this one to your collection. There was never a time where I felt the band was out of ideas or just padding out the album. Each song sounds like it belongs. This is very good stuff. Check out the samples on their Myspace and judge for yourself.

Album Review: Darkestrah - The Great Silk Road

Artist: Darkestrah (Kyrgyzstan / Germany)
Album Title: The Great Silk Road
Label: Paragon Records (USA)
Released: 2008

My first exposure to Darkestrah was in the fall of 2005 when I ordered their first album, Sary Oy. This promising and unique debut mixed obscure black metal with a lot of traditional Kyrgyz instruments and throat singing, which is not a combination you hear on a regular basis. Unfortunately as vocalist Kriegtalith and drummer Asbath moved the band to Germany, they parted ways with the guy responsible for playing all those traditional instruments (Oldhan). As a result, their next album, Embrace of Memory, had a sound that was much closer to traditional black metal, though it was very epic and had some scattered influences of Kyrgyz culture in the mix. Because a lot of their uniqueness was gone, and I was losing interest in traditional black metal, I ignored their next album, Epos, for a while.

After Epos, Darkestrah left German label No Colours and arranged for their next album, 2008's The Great Silk Road, to be released on small New York State label Paragon Records. This should be good news for U.S. fans, who won't have to track down another Darkestrah release on No Colours and pay the higher prices that are usually charged for releases on that label. Not that a higher price wouldn't be worth it for this album, which would turn out to be one of my favorite 2008 releases, but the easy availability and very positive reviews the album was getting inspired me to give the band another listen.

While Epos was thematically centered around the Kyrgyz lake of Issyk Kul, The Great Silk Road, obviously, is concerned with the ancient trade routes that pass through Asia. Epos was a good album, but I found it a little repetitive and very short (if you get rid of the several minutes of sound effects, the album clocks in at around 27 minutes). The Great Silk Road builds on the many positive aspects of Epos, but is overall a much more satisfying package, in my opinion. For one thing, it's significantly longer, with four long tracks (ranging from 8 1/2 to almost 19 minutes in length) and a short outro. I also found it to be more musically interesting. There are certainly those who prefer Epos, however, and I would certainly recommend that release if you find it for a good price and are prepared for what is basically a long EP consisting of one song.

On this album, Darkestrah reminds me quite a bit of Drudkh or Negură Bunget but with a bit of Orphaned Land mixed in. There are many atmospheric, slow-burning sections with thick chords and catchy riffs, sometimes enhanced by keyboards, cello, or a few traditional instruments (like the temir-komuz, the Kyrgyz jaw harp). The music, especially in some of the intros, has a very distinct Middle Eastern quality to it, and one may have no problem picturing the desert and traders from various cultures converging on the Silk Road. Then there are Kriegtalith's vocals, which are evil and icy cold. Hers are some of my favorite black metal-style vocals, because they are in such a high register and often sound inhuman. I don't know if she enhances her vocals with a little distortion, but I suspect that she has simply perfected this style over the past few albums. Some might not like the style, because it at times seems at odds with the atmosphere otherwise created by the music, but I didn't find this to be a distraction.

Because of the long track times and the patient approach the band takes at developing the songs, what results is a satisfying, winding journey. It's one of those albums you can love on the first listen, yet continue to discover new things about it with each subsequent listen. Those who enjoyed the first Darkestrah album but felt that they ventured too far from their roots after that should give them another chance, because, even if the use of traditional instruments and melodies isn't quite as prominent as it was on Sary Oy, I think everything blends together better on this album. Folk metal fans who don't tend to listen to pagan-themed black metal (like Fimbultyr, Enslaved, Hate Forest, etc.) might find this to be too strongly black metal-oriented for their tastes, but then again they might find it easier to listen to because of how well Darkestrah establishes the atmosphere and keeps it throughout the album. It's kind of like how Nile's use of "ancient Egyptian" musical themes made it possible for me to listen to them even though I don't normally like ultra-pummelling death metal.

Perhaps the centerpiece of the album is "Kara-Oy," which is by far the longest track. This track begins with what I think is the cello, along with some throat singing, before launching into some furious black metal. At just before the twelve minute mark, and again shortly thereafter, the band references the main musical theme to their debut album, Sary Oy, which I thought was a pretty cool touch. Anyone familiar with Sary Oy can't possibly miss it. The way this song builds, dismantles, and re-builds, with an organic ebb and flow, reminds me very much of Epos, except about ten minutes shorter. It winds down with the sound of the temir-komuz over a thick backdrop of Drudkh-like musical atmosphere before fading into the 2-minute long, cinematic-sounding outro.

Darkestrah is certainly a unique band, and with each album they have gained a lot of attention, and rightfully so. Fans of black metal, pagan metal, and bands like Orphaned Land should at least check out some samples of The Great Silk Road and see if it doesn't grab you. An excellent metal album indeed.

Album Review: ВеданЪ КолодЪ - Танец леших

Artist: ВеданЪ КолодЪ (Vedan Kolod) [Russia]
Album Title: Танец леших (The Dance of the Wood Spirits)
Record Label: Sketis Music (Russia)
Released: 2007

Russian folk band Vedan Kolod's second CD, The Dance of the Wood Spirits, is an improvement over their very good debut, Tribes. Their overall sound has not changed much, except for the addition of bagpipes and other instruments. The album progresses largely the same as Tribes, with a variety of styles among the songs to keep the listener from becoming too accustomed to one particular style. But everything just feels more mature on this album: the songwriting is tighter, the players more confident, the production is more consistent, etc. This is everything that was so good about the first Vedan Kolod album, only better.

I had ordered the first and second CD's at the same time, and this one actually arrived a day earlier than the other, so this album was my first real exposure to Vedan Kolod other than a few Myspace samples and Youtube videos. To be honest, I didn't really know what to make of it at first. This is a band that is unlike any other that I have heard, and I had to grow accustomed to their style of music and grow to appreciate it over the next few days of listening at work and at home. Like the other CD, there are songs that I immediately liked, while there were some that took time to appreciate. Since then, however, I have grown to really like this album from beginning to end, and I am excited to hear their third CD, which seems to be even more difficult to find than this one.

The album begins with Веснянка, an original song by the band which features the drum, zhaleika (I believe), and solo female vocal. This is a fast-paced, energetic song, and a wise song with which to begin the album. The second track, Да на море утушка купалася, which translates to "Duck is swimming in the sea," is a traditional Russian wedding song, and it actually sounds rather solemn for a wedding song, or a song about a duck, for that matter. It contains some very interesting female vocal harmonies. Quite lovely and amazing. The instrumentation on this track is drum and I think a Scythian horn, also an odd choice for a wedding song, I think. However, I would be happy to have this song played at my wedding, if I were to have a second one.

The third track features vocals by Valerii Naryshkin, the one male in the band, as well as gusli, flute, and gudok (the three-stringed, violin-like instrument I mentioned in the last review). The fourth track is mostly instrumental, but with some spoken text in the foreground. I won't go track-by-track through the whole album, but maybe you'll get an idea of the kind of variety Vedan Kolod employs. There are 13 tracks, just like the first album, but this album is 10 minutes shorter, at about 38 and a half minutes. That may sound like a detriment, but actually I think the shorter songs help move the album along at a nice pace.

I don't know what else to say about The Dance of the Wood Spirits, except that it's a great second album for Vedan Kolod and should definitely please fans of their first album. The addition of bagpipes and zhaleika are certainly welcome as well, as they add even more color and richness to the music. There's a lot of detail just waiting to be discovered among these songs, and I enjoy the fact that I keep finding things that I missed in previous listens.

This is a highly-recommended CD for those who are looking for authentic Russian folk with a reverence for Russia's history and a desire to revive and preserve its ancient musical traditions. I encourage Tatyana, Daryana, Polina, and Valerii to continue their musical journey wherever it may lead them. It has been an exciting one so far.

Album Review: ВеданЪ КолодЪ - Племена

Artist: ВеданЪ КолодЪ (Vedan Kolod) [Russia]
Album Title: Племена (Tribes)
Record Label: Panfiloff Music (Russia)
Released: 2007

[April 15, 2009 edit: I made at least one error in writing the review below. The band is still located in Central Siberia, not Moscow. Also, as you can see by Daryana's comment, Polina was only 11 years old (!) when Tribes was released, which is much younger than the "early 20's" guess I made. I should never get a job in a carnival "Guess My Age?" booth, because I'm usually way off. Thank you to Daryana for clearing up my errors! :-) ]

Tribes, the debut CD of the young Russian folk band Vedan Kolod, begins with the deep drone of the Scythan horn, a digeridoo-like instrument. The Scythian horn is joined by some hand percussion and a male voice that, a minute and a half into the title track, changes to a form of throat singing as it is joined by a female voice. This is not how I expected a Russian folk album to start, though I have not heard very many (unfortunately) so I really didn't know what to expect. The atmosphere of this first track is one of a primal feeling, somewhat shamanic, perhaps not dissimilar from Native American music.

Vedan Kolod makes it immediately clear that they are not an ordinary folk band. There are no electronic sounds or effects used, no modern instruments that are now associated with Russian folk such as the bayan or balalaika, no guitar, no violin, no modern rhythms. Their music is described as "authentic Russian folk," and though I am no ethnomusicologist, this does sound like what I would imagine ancient pagan music to be.

Vedan Kolod is a family band, made up of three women (Tatyana Naryshkina, Daryana Antipova, and Polina Lisitsa) who come from the same family, and a man, Valerii Naryshkin, who is married to Tatyana. The band is located in Moscow, but are originally from Siberia. The band seems to wear two cloaks; not only are they artists, but they are musical archaeologists. Their intent is to revive and recreate the music of ancient pagan Russia, especially of Central Siberia and Altai. They play traditional songs and also original works, though their original works contain themes of folklore and old tales and use ancient Russian language (I believe). The band has revived and recreated many ancient Russian folk instruments, some of them almost forgotten. Similarly, they use old vocal styles including the aforementioned throat singing.

Their debut CD, Tribes, is by far the easiest of their three albums to find in the United States. I bought my copy from Amazon, but there are several music websites that stock this album. Technically, it is not a replicated CD but a professionally-printed CD-R. I wouldn't have known this if it did not say so right on the disc label. Anyway, this is not important information, though it may be to some.

The music of Vedan Kolod is difficult for me to describe, as I have very few musical reference points to use. Many of the songs use sparse instrumentation and put a lot of focus on vocals. The vocals are sometimes harmonized, and sometimes they are singing entirely different things. Both the male and female vocals are very good, and the moments that focus on the interplay of vocals are some of my favorite moments on the album. All members of the band are young (perhaps in their early 20's?), which makes their dedication to their craft and the spirit of ancient Russia even more inspiring.

The band shows much variety on each of their albums (at least the two I have heard so far), so with each new track comes a style and sound that is different from the previous. The elements that are most often present are the vocals and the drums. Many of the songs have drums (ancient drums, not modern), and the rhythm is somewhat tribal, for lack of a better term. All four members of the band are credited with playing some sort of drum, usually multiple types (Slavonic drums [big and small], sharkuncy, etc.), so the presence of drums is understandably important to Vedan Kolod. Some tracks feature the unmistakable sound of the gusli, vargan (mouth harp), and ocarina, as well as at least a few instruments that I didn't know existed at all (a three-stringed, violin-like instrument called a gudok, the fuyara [a huge flute], the aforementioned Scythian horn, various smaller flutes, among others). Also mentioned in the booklet are Slavonic bagpipe and zhaleika, though I don't recall hearing either on this album. They appear on the second CD, though.

A few of the songs appealed to me immediately upon my first listen, including Голубиная Книга (a traditional song arranged by the band, which features gusli and beautiful vocal parts), Перун и Скипер Зверь (which has a great female vocal solo, gusli, and some nice percussion), and Сера Птица (which has an excellent vocal performance by Valerii Naryshkin, another appearance by the gusli, and some beautiful supporting female vocals). The production on this latter track is not as good as the rest of the album, which is a bit of a shame because it's a wonderful piece of music. Being a neophyte to the sound Vedan Kolod have created, many of the rest of the tracks took a bit more effort on my part for me to appreciate, but after several listens, more and more of the album sunk in. I began to notice, with each listen, the little beautiful moments throughout the album: the gentle rhythms, the beauty of the Russian language in the recitations, the details of the vocal performances, the interplay of the various instruments, and more.

Tribes is a great and unique album that is worth experiencing for those who are interested in hearing what the music of pre-Christian Russia may very well have sounded like. For me, it is easy to imagine these voices resonating through the ancient forests, and, like most great pagan art, it stirs my spirit even though I don't understand the words. For fans of pagan/folk metal who have expanded their musical interests into various types of folk music (or who have thought about it), especially those who are drawn to the Russian scene, Vedan Kolod is well worth your attention. Fans of the folk moments on Arkona's От Сердца к Небу CD should also take notice of this band.

Album Review Supplement: Elffor - From the Throne of Hate (2008 reissue)

Artist: Elffor (Spain)
Album Title: From the Throne of Hate
Label: Northern Silence Productions (Germany)
Released: 2004, 2008 (reissue year)

I already reviewed the 2004 self-released version of this album back in October 2007, which you can read here: http://thefinalage.blogspot.com/2007/10/album-elffor-from-throne-of-hate.html

Most of what I wanted to say I already did in that review, so this is meant only to supplement it as it concerns the Northern Silence reissue of the album.

The first three Elffor CD's have been given the reissue treatment so far. Supposedly, they are also re-recorded, but From the Throne of Hate is definitely not re-recorded, and I have my doubts that the first two albums are, either. In my opinion, re-recording From the Throne of Hate would have probably diminished its greatness, so I'm glad that it was left alone, and that the only changes (other than perhaps some remastering) are two bonus tracks added to the end.

Because this is one of my favorite metal albums, I decided to pick up the Northern Silence reissue. I bought the digipack, which according to the back is an "Exclusive Fan Edition" limited to 999 copies. According to the information at Encyclopedia Metallum, however, the digipack is actually limited to 500 copies, while the jewel case version is limited to 1,000. I don't really care either way, because all I care about is that, when I recommend this CD to someone, they'll actually be able to find it, at least until this version is sold out.

The artwork has all been redone, and now the lyrics are printed in the booklet. This confirms my suspicion that the lyrics are pretty bad, but this album isn't about the lyrics. It's about that incredible, dark, medieval atmosphere. The album remains great, and I still listen to it very often. Man, do I love this album.

But what about the bonus tracks, for the other 499 of you who bought it the first time around? Are they worth the cost of buying the CD all over again? Well, the bonus tracks clock in at a total of 14 1/2 minutes, and my guess is that they were at least recorded sometime after From the Throne of Hate (and probably after The Unblessed Woods, which they resemble more closely). So there's definitely a noticeable difference; they don't sound like songs that belong on the album and were somehow left out. I like The Unblessed Woods, but it's no From the Throne of Hate. And these new songs are good (some may even like them more than the actual album), but they don't really add anything except, well, a pair of new Elffor songs (one being instrumental), which is good enough for me but might not be for you. Actually, "Misterious (sic) Dawn" is really good. When is Elffor going to record a new full-length? Hopefully soon.

Elffor is great medieval ambient black metal, and Northern Silence is awesome for reissuing his albums. Definitely check this project out if you haven't yet.

Album Review: Znich - Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca (2007 reissue)

Artist: Znich (Belarus)
Album Title: Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca (Precepts of Last Ancient) + Bonus tracks
Record Label: Volh Records (Russia)
Released: 2003, 2007 (reissue year)

Wow, this was a really awesome surprise. I bought this album to complete my Znich collection, but I really wasn't expecting something this good. But, from the first time I heard the second track (and first actual song following the intro), Выпраўляла Мацi Сына, which, incidentally, is now one of my favorite pagan metal songs, I felt like I had stumbled upon a gem. And the rest of the album confirmed it. Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca may not be a very well-known or popular album, but, in my opinion, this is one of the essential Slavic pagan metal albums, especially of the Belarusian scene. It's quirky enough that a lot of people are going to dislike it right from the start, but I think it's one that could grow on you.

By this point, Znich had gone through various lineup changes since its inception, and vocalist Ales Tabolitch was the only remaining band member from the days of Язычнік я... The new lineup influenced the folk-infused sound this album took on, most notably the addition of female vocalist Natalia Volynec, whose wonderfully authentic folk-style vocals add so much to the Znich sound that one wishes she had remained a permanent fixture in the lineup. Unfortunately, this lineup would also completely dissolve, leaving Ales the only remaining member for their 2007 album Крыжы-абярэгi (please correct me if I'm wrong on this). For one painfully brief, shining moment, Znich had really happened upon something special, and fortunately it was recorded and became their second album, Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca.

For this reissue, Volh only had a few songs left to add as bonus tracks, as Znich has never been a terribly prolific band. So the nine tracks that make up the album are supplemented with two bonus tracks, one of a re-recorded Чорны Зніч, and what appears to be an early version of Купала На Йвана!, a song that appears in more polished form on the album proper. I don't know if there was any remastering done, but, regardless, the sound quality is great. The album is doomy and crunchy, with powerful guitar and drums. Most of the vocals on the album are sung, but Ales does occasionally growl, which sounds very good. His clean vocals are also good, often harmonizing with Natalia. True, the vocals are not always on-key, but this gives the album a bit of a rough-hewn quality that I think really fits the mood of the album.

In addition to the folk-style vocals, there are some bagpipes, flutes, and mouth harp to enhance the overall sound and atmosphere. Sometimes the mood seems festive, while other times it seems melancholic (a quality that I've noticed in just about every Belarusian metal CD I have... is it a cultural thing?). But overall I get a feeling of reverence and pride, and I feel good every time I listen to this CD. It's not a perfect album; I think it tends to drag a bit towards the end, when the female vocals disappear for a few tracks, but things pick up again on the final song of the album proper, the mournful-sounding Сiрацiнка.

As for the bonus tracks, I could take them or leave them. I didn't really need another version of Чорны Зніч (though this version isn't bad), but the early version of Купала На Йвана! is pretty good, if only to have another chance to hear the beautiful, layered female vocals at the end. Necessary? Certainly not.

I highly recommend Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca. It's probably not a good album to pick up if you're just getting into this style of music, since, as I mentioned earlier, it's pretty quirky, but I feel like it can stand proudly among the best of the genre. Those who like the folk choir-style vocals on Arkona's Ot Serdtsa K Nebu may enjoy the female vocals on Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca.

Fans of Slavic pagan metal who are willing to overlook a few rough edges and quirks and discover the treasure beneath should definitely check out this one.

Album Review: Znich - Язычнік я... (2007 reissue)

Artist: Znich (Belarus)
Album Title: Язычнік я... (I Am the Pagan) + Bonus Tracks
Record Label: Volh Records (Russia)
Released: 1997, 2007 (reissue year)

They may not be as well-known as some of their Russian or Ukrainian counterparts, but Znich is one of the earlier Slavic pagan metal bands. The original incarnation of the band formed in 1996. I say original incarnation because there have been a bunch of lineup changes in Znich over the years, each one seemingly bringing a completely new sound to the band. I was first exposed to their music with their 2007 album Крыжы-абярэгi (Pagan Crosses), and although I thought that album was pretty decent, it didn't inspire me to go to great lengths to obtain their earlier albums. Then, during a Belarusian pagan metal mini-binge, I came across the Volh Records reissues of the first two Znich albums and decided to give them a chance.

First of all, let me tell you about the Volh reissue of the first album, Язычнік я... In addition to the 10 tracks that make up that album, Volh included their entire 1999 demo Дух зямлi. Not only that, but they include two of the tracks from their 2000 single (I don't have the Cyrillic title, but the English translation is Sensation of Spring). With these 9 bonus tracks, the total length of the CD is brought to 79 1/2 minutes, so you definitely get plenty of music crammed into this disc. But quantity does not guarantee quality, so what do we have?

If you think about it, 1997 was an eternity ago in the pagan metal scene. Butterfly Temple's Veles was still two years off, Nokturnal Mortum was only just releasing Goat Horns (or perhaps hadn't even released it yet), and many of the bands that make up the scene today didn't even exist yet. So how does Язычнік я... stand up after almost twelve years and hundreds of pagan metal albums released in the interim? Well, as you might expect, this album captures a less mature Znich than they one we see later, but it's still very listenable. The musicianship isn't the best, and Ales Tabolitch's growl is not yet balanced out by his unique, folkish clean vocals, but there's still a pretty solid collection of songs here. There is little or no folk to be found on these ten tracks. Instead, we have pagan doom metal with a lot of keyboards. It's somewhat generic, especially when compared to the unique sound they would later capture on what I consider their masterpiece (so far), Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca, but it's not bad. The sound quality is surprisingly good, considering it was apparently only available on cassette until 2004. All in all, it's definitely a respectable debut.

Next we dig into the bonus tracks, the bulk of which are made up of 1999 demo Дух зямлi. The sound quality certainly takes a turn for the worse during this section of the disc. I don't know if this was remastered like the first album was, but I would imagine that the demo wasn't recorded in a studio (or at least a decent one). Still, I think Дух зямлi is important because by this point we are seeing many of the elements that Znich would carry into the next decade. At this point, Ales begins using clean vocals in addition to the growls, though at times he sounds way off-key. The overall sound is still doom metal, but there are many folk elements being added to the mix, mostly in the vocals. On a few tracks, there's a female vocalist present, and she does a very nice job. Obviously, because of the recording quality, the overall effect lacks the kind of power it would otherwise have, which is a shame, since there are some good songs here as well. At least one (Ой, дымна за дваром) would later be re-recorded, and it appears on Крыжы-абярэгi. I don't know how the lineup on this demo differs from the first album (the digipack only lists a single lineup), so it's possible that lineup changes helped lead to this progression in sound. The demo's bonus track, "Propaganda," is a Sepultura cover. I have the original version of this song, but since I haven't listened to Sepultura in years, I can't remember what it sounds like, and I'm not about to dig through boxes in order to hear it. I like Znich's version, though. I would like to add that although the recording quality on Дух зямлi is not as good as Язычнік я..., you can still hear everything clearly, which is more than you can say for many demos.

The disc closes with two songs from Sensation of Spring. By this point, the band was continuing to progress into the sound they would carry to fruition on Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca, and actually these two songs are early versions of songs that would appear on that album. The female vocalist appears to be the same one as on Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca. The only track from the Sensation of Spring single that didn't make it on this disc, a newer version of Чорны Зніч (the original version of which appeared on Язычнік я..., and of which a later version would appear on Крыжы-абярэгi), would be included as a bonus track on the reissue of Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca.

There's a lot of music on this disc, but, unless you're a pretty big Znich fan or a completist, it may not be worth your while. It's good music, but I wouldn't call it essential. I am glad for Volh Records giving people another chance to hear this stuff, though, because, rough edges and all, there are certainly fans who will be interested in this.

Album Review: Калевала - Кудель белоснежного льна

Artist: Калевала (Kalevala) [Russia]
Album Title: Кудель белоснежного льна (Tow of Snow-white Flax)
Record Label: Sound Age (Russia)
Released: 2008 (April)

Ah, now THIS is folk metal. Kalevala may have only formed in 2007, following the departure of vocalist Kseniya and guitarist Nikita from the band Невидь (Nevid), but the band quickly gained attention after posting rather good demo tracks to their Myspace page. At some point, they were offered a contract with Sound Age (one of the best Russian labels), and without much delay released their debut CD, Tow of Snow-white Flax, which is easily one of the top albums in the folk metal genre in 2008 (and perhaps ever).

The lineage of Kalevala can be traced back to Butterfly Temple, one of the earliest Russian pagan/folk metal bands. Kseniya was a guest vocalist for that band, but following what was arguably Butterfly Temple's greatest work, 2003's Тропою крови по воле рода, she and Lesyar had left to form Nevid. Kseniya was a part of Nevid for their first two (and so far only) albums. Then, according to the biography on Kalevala's site, she and Lesyar had some sort of falling out and she and Nikita started this new band with a new focus. Because of Kseniya's apparent Finnish background, the style of Kalevala is heavily influenced by the music of that country, which possibly explains why they kind of sound like Korpiklaani.

Kseniya and Nikita were joined by the great Alexandr "Shmel" of Rarog on bass, Nikita's old school friend Aleksandr Oleynikov on accordion, and Vasiliy on drums, and then wasted no time putting together a demo and then writing songs for their debut full-length. Despite how quickly everything came together, Kalevala sounds rather confident and accomplished. Perhaps it is due to the experience of Kseniya, Nikita, and Schmel, who are no strangers to the folk metal scene, but this CD shows the creative and adventurous energy of a young band but the maturity and professionalism of a band that has played together for a much greater amount of time. It's the best of both worlds.

I liked Kseniya's voice in Butterfly Temple and Nevid, but I absolutely love it in Kalevala. Her voice is unique, and it sounds like a mix of modern and traditional vocal styles. She sounds confident, and leads the band with an infectious energy that is well-supported by the rest of the players. The accordion player is easily one of the best in the genre. He and Johannes Joseph of Finsterforst should have an accordion-solo contest, as they both manage to make their instruments an integral and inseparable part of their respective bands' sounds. Guitarist Nikita is no slouch either. Not simply content to let the accordion steal his thunder, he plays excellent lead guitar (and frequent solos) on this album. In many bands of this style (including Korpiklaani), there's a distinct lack of lead guitar, but nobody is relegated to background duty in Kalevala. Even bassist Shmel and drummer Vasiliy manage to shine on this album. Listen to this album on a stereo system with decent bass and you'll gain a greater appreciation for Shmel's contributions to the bouncy, energetic sound. The production is clear, full, and perfect for the style of music.

The lyrics, from what I could roughly translate online, seem to be old tales (perhaps folk tales) and love songs, and I think they're mostly or all written by Kseniya. I don't think there's much if any pagan lyrical content on the album. It's hard to tell, though, because most of the words aren't recognized by Google Translate. Perhaps they're archaic words, or Karelian. I don't know. The artwork and packaging are quite nice, and the booklet is a ridiculously thick 24 pages that barely fits behind the tabs that hold the insert in the CD case. All lyrics are printed, along with pictures of what appears to be drawings of old earrings and maybe brooches or pins. Not surprisingly, all information is in Russian. The credits include a few guest musicians, including two flute players and a guest vocalist on the final track (Valery Naumov of the band Ivan-Tsarevich).

Although many of the songs are fast-paced, with humppa-influenced rhythms, there's a pretty nice variety of styles on the album. Four tracks in, they slow things down with a ballad, Кудель белоснежного льна, but then pick things up again with the fantastic and popular Пастушок and Милый, the latter being probably the fastest song on the album (with the possible exception of the last few minutes of the final track). That is followed by Снега белые крыла, which shifts the style to a more traditional rock style, and sounds more like something from Nevid. Then they move to a faster song and then a mid-paced song. The final song is a metal rendition of the traditional Ukrainian song Ти ж мене пiдманула, and it's a fun and satisfying ending to a fantastic folk metal album.

Sound Age releases (like Pagan Reign, Arkona, or Izmoroz) normally aren't difficult to find among American metal distros, but I haven't seen this CD over here yet. I had to order it from Russia. That's a shame, but hopefully it's only temporary. I think an international metal label (like Napalm) would do well to license this CD for worldwide distribution, because Kalevala is just as good as, if not better than, the folk metal bands on larger metal labels. But, in the meantime, try to track down Tow of Snow-white Flax if you're a fan of lighter, energetic folk metal. It's a great album that is hopefully just the beginning of a long string of releases from an immensely talented band. They've recently posted a demo version of a song from their next album on their Myspace page, a ballad. So they're already working on a second album, and it sounds promising so far. Time will tell if it will be as good as their debut, but in the meantime I will be enjoying this one.

Album Review: Žrec - Žertva

Artist: Žrec (Czech Republic)
Album Title: Žertva
Record Label: Murderous Music Production (Czech Republic)
Released: 2008 (June)

Most of the well-known Slavonic pagan metal bands come from Russia, Ukraine, or Poland, but fortunately there seems to be a growing presence of bands from other Slavic nations. In this case we have Žrec (a word for a pagan priest), a relatively new band that hails from the Czech Republic. I came across their debut album, Žertva, by chance, and fortunately I did not pass up the opportunity to purchase it, because I have not seen it for sale anywhere since. Hopefully their label will get more copies distributed for sale, because Žrec is a good band that is worth checking out for fans of this kind of music.

Žrec plays pagan metal with a strong folk presence. Much of the folk sound comes from the violin, which is played by guest musician Petra Sélesová. The violin is practically ever-present on the album, sometimes playing folk-ish melodies and other times acting kind of like a lead guitar, since there is only one guitarist in the band. At any rate, it fleshes out the sound and is quite welcome to my ears. There are also flutes on the album, played by band member Ingvarr, who also supplies the clean vocals and keyboards. The other three members, guitarist Torham, bassist/harsh vocalist Soulburner, and drummer Sarapis, also play in a black metal band called Moravská Zima. Žrec sometimes sounds like black metal, due to the harsh vocals, but the metal itself sounds, to me at least, like it is also influenced by traditional heavy metal and possibly even thrash. At any rate, it's pretty unique. It almost sounds Russian at times (at least it does if you can't tell the difference between two Slavic languages by hearing them growled), but Žrec retains their own identity.

The production of Žertva is somewhat raw and imperfect, but the production actually gives it a somewhat earthy sound that fits quite well with the spirit of folk metal, in my opinion. Everything sounds natural; a bit unpolished, but not in a bad way. You can hear everything pretty clearly, even the bass. The songs don't always follow strict metal structures. For instance, mid-way through the title track, the music stops, is followed by a shout of "Sláva Mokoši!," and then changes gears for a more folkish section for more than a minute before returning to its normal self again. And track four, "Lystoczku Czerwenyj," is actually a Ukrainian folk song, and its rhythm may remind one of Korpiklaani.

An interesting choice for this album was the inclusion of a poeticized Czech-language cover of Nokturnal Mortum classic "Perun's Celestial Silver." It was a risky choice of tracks to cover, since "Perun's Celestial Silver" is one of the most beloved tracks among Nokturnal Mortum fans. As I've stated in at least one earlier review, I'm no great fan of covers, but, in my opinion, Žrec did an admirable job with this one. Rather than compare it to the original (and which would I compare it to, anyway? The Lunar Poetry version or the NeChrist version?), I'd like to remark that its inclusion as the penultimate song on Žertva does nothing to disrupt the flow of the album, nor does it clash stylistically with the rest of the songs. By doing the vocals in their own language and by adding their own distinct flavor to the song, Žrec has made the song their own. It's still recognizable as "Perun's Celestial Silver" from the very first seconds of the song, and it retains the black metal sound of the original, but it fits nicely on this album and is a welcome addition.

Another positive aspect of Žertva that is worth mentioning is the vocal performance by Ingvarr. His unique vocals fall somewhere between folk style and a more operatic style. His vocals aren't used as often as Soulburner's harsh vocals are, but they're used when appropriate and sound great on the aforementioned "Lystoczku Czerwenyj" and on the final track, "Raráš Rakáša," which is my favorite track on the album. Ingvarr also influenced the band to evolve into their present folk metal style, so his being added to the band was a great move, in my opinion.

Due to many factors, including distribution and location, Žrec may not gain nearly as much attention as they deserve from the pagan/folk metal community, but, if you have the opportunity, I recommend you check them out and try to get your hands on Žertva.