Viking Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Equilibrium – Rekreatur (2010)

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    After being undecided about this release for a few weeks now, we have to say that after very careful consideration we can’t really decide if this is great or just something is too watered down in lush keyboard arrangements to hide the underlying mediocrity of the extremely repetitive song structures.

    A part of us says that we should love “Rekreatur” since it has a very bombastic sound, crushing vocals and an overall very epic feeling to it. Another part of us says that the underlying guitar work is plain dull and it feels exactly the same after cycling through a few songs, that the whole music sound very overpowered by the growls and the massive keyboard arrangements. But in general, we have to agree that in terms of this being an album that will get you in a better mood, an epic battle mood that is, the band does an excellent job. The sound is massive and it’s something that we can see ourselves headbanging to in a live setting.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    King of Asgard - Fi'mbulvintr (2010)

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    As you probably guessed from the band’s name, today we have yet another band from Sweden that plays Viking Metal. Featuring members of Mithotyn, Falconer and a bunch of other bands, King of Asgard plays a very generic Viking Metal with countless influences from Amon Amarth, Týr, to pretty much every other Viking Metal band these days, paired with some hints of Dissection and Primordial.

    As many other bands, in paper King of Asgard does sound awesome, since we used to love Mithotyn back in the day where Viking Metal was not as exploited as now. Falconer also has had good stuff over the years. But none of these musicians can save King of Asgard from falling in the pitfalls of sounding too much like somebody else.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Istapp – Blekinge (2010)

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    With a particular beef with the sun (read their bio) and a very interesting overall concept behind the band, we get today Istapp and their blend of Black Metal with Viking/Folk Metal elements. The band’s first full-length release “Blekinge” set to be release on June 8th on Metal Blade records is one of the most complete Black Metal albums of 2010.

    Hailing from Sweden, a place where pretty much every band seems to have the skills to craft great music, it’s hard to find young and promising talent such as Istapp. The band’s music is very straight forward and aggressive, but has mystical clean passages that create unparalleled atmospheres fully enriching the listening experience.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Norse – Hellstorm (2010)

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    Hailing from Australia, today we have Norse, a young band that plays Viking/Melodic Death Metal with a vengeance. These Aussies are ready to break shit and waste no time in doing so with the Amon Amarth sounding first track “Hellstorm”. All through the album the same level of intensity is consistent, and we completely love that.

    The band is heavily influenced by Amon Amarth (and similar Nordic mythology influenced Black/Death Metal bands) as we can tell from the way their music sound, the cover art, and the song names. But make no mistake and think that Norse is just a cheap clone of previously mentioned bands; they are pretty good at creating original music that stands by itself.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Ereb Altor - The End (2010)

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    To complete the Viking Metal trifecta released by Napalm Records this March/April we have “The End” by Ereb Altor. This band plays Epic Viking Doom Metal….. we have heard Epic Nautical Doom Metal and now Viking EDM, looking into the band’s founders we find that both of them are part of Isole, and that is exactly how this band sounds too much alike.

    Ereb Altor has crafted a very unique sounding Epic Doom Metal that most fans of the genre will find intoxicating, having heavy influences from Candlemass, Isole, Ahab, and old Bathory. And while this is not 100% or cup of tea, we find this release very enjoyable. Being huge Doom Metal fans, it took us quite a while to really get into Epic Doom and Funeral Doom bands, and it can’t get any better than Ereb Altor (and Ahab).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Svartsot - Mulmets Viser (2010)

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    Coming from Denmark, we get Napalm Records second Folk/Viking Metal offering of the month. “Mulmets Viser” is Svartsot’s second full-length album and their best to date. Having recorded two brilliant demos and one full-length album (“Ravnenes Saga”) the band shows no signs of losing their edge in every release.

    After 90% of the band quit in 2008, Cris J.S. Frederiksen wasted no time in putting together a group of musicians that wanted to continue with Svartsot. This bold move paid off since there is nothing lost in the quality of this band, and we would even dare to say that they sound better than ever.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Heidevolk - Uit Oude Grond (2010)

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    Out of the hundreds of bands that play Folk/Viking/Pagan Metal, Heidevolk has been one of our favorites since their debut album “De Strijdlust is Geboren”. The band has a very ‘simple’ but yet effective way of making Folk Metal songs, they only need the addition of a violin to get the extra ‘folkish’ sound that other bands have when using countless extra instruments.

    “Uit Oude Grond” is the band’s third full-length album and you can hear that they are running out of ideas. While Heidevolk’s music has always sounded formulaic (but effective) it’s finally getting a bit tired and old. Even halfway through this album you start to wonder if your CD player is skipping and re-playing the same tracks.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Månegarm – Nattväsen (2009)

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    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.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Kraftheim - Midgards Zorn (2009)

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    "Midgards Zorn" found it's way from Germany to our lair last week and as soon as we popped the CD in we got hooked into it. This band plays a very interesting mix of Viking Metal and Rock with some influences of Punk (like Glittertind).

    Kraftheim's album features 11 songs all sang in German which gives this album that German Rock dimension as well, making the band extremely versatile when it comes to combining genres allowing them to have a fresh sound, something that is hard to come by in the last few years.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Ensiferum – From Afar (2009)

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    Two years after their amazing album “Iron”, Ensiferum is back with an even better album with “From Afar”. The band was touring for most of the 2 years in between releases but they managed to squeeze this brilliant album.

    “From Afar” features nine racks that showcase the strengths that the band has showed in their previous releases and managed to make them more epic by adding new elements that blend to perfection with their old ones.

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