Månegarm – Nattväsen (2009)

Hailing from Sweden, Månegarm is one of those bands that have been evolving their sound and in every album they keep getting better and better. “Nattväsen” is the band’s sixth full length album and while their Folk influences have taken mostly over, they have not conformed and kicked out their harsh vocals and heavier influences from the past.

Starting with the traditional folk vocals followed by growls, “Nattväsen” will take you on a journey of great Folk and Metal music that you will surely be listening several times in a row. This album is very diverse when it comes to mixing Folk/Viking Metal and Death Metal.

The guitar riffs are very traditional of Folk/Viking Metal albums and carry this album by themselves, but there is way more to the mix. The clean vocals are superb and give that battle feeling; the growls provide the much needed aggression that current releases of this genre are missing.

Only using a few traditional Folk elements, Månegarm keeps things very metal oriented and it works wonders for this band. Having perfected their sound in the last five albums, I think Månegarm is at their peak and this release should not go unnoticed by any fans of the genres the band fuses together.

The mixture of aggressive and melodic sections make this release great, they are perfectly balanced and give just the right feeling. The vocal layering is very well done and greatly benefits the music’s epic feeling.

I can probably keep going on and on about how great this album is, but I will let you find out for your self. “Nattväsen” will be on the top 10 Viking/Folk Metal releases of 2009, and surely will become another classic album of this great band.

Release: November 19,2009

Country: Sweden