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.