Monday, July 27, 2009

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

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.

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