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.