Album Review: Znich - Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca (2007 reissue)

Artist: Znich (Belarus)
Album Title: Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca (Precepts of Last Ancient) + Bonus tracks
Record Label: Volh Records (Russia)
Released: 2003, 2007 (reissue year)

Wow, this was a really awesome surprise. I bought this album to complete my Znich collection, but I really wasn't expecting something this good. But, from the first time I heard the second track (and first actual song following the intro), Выпраўляла Мацi Сына, which, incidentally, is now one of my favorite pagan metal songs, I felt like I had stumbled upon a gem. And the rest of the album confirmed it. Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca may not be a very well-known or popular album, but, in my opinion, this is one of the essential Slavic pagan metal albums, especially of the Belarusian scene. It's quirky enough that a lot of people are going to dislike it right from the start, but I think it's one that could grow on you.

By this point, Znich had gone through various lineup changes since its inception, and vocalist Ales Tabolitch was the only remaining band member from the days of Язычнік я... The new lineup influenced the folk-infused sound this album took on, most notably the addition of female vocalist Natalia Volynec, whose wonderfully authentic folk-style vocals add so much to the Znich sound that one wishes she had remained a permanent fixture in the lineup. Unfortunately, this lineup would also completely dissolve, leaving Ales the only remaining member for their 2007 album Крыжы-абярэгi (please correct me if I'm wrong on this). For one painfully brief, shining moment, Znich had really happened upon something special, and fortunately it was recorded and became their second album, Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca.

For this reissue, Volh only had a few songs left to add as bonus tracks, as Znich has never been a terribly prolific band. So the nine tracks that make up the album are supplemented with two bonus tracks, one of a re-recorded Чорны Зніч, and what appears to be an early version of Купала На Йвана!, a song that appears in more polished form on the album proper. I don't know if there was any remastering done, but, regardless, the sound quality is great. The album is doomy and crunchy, with powerful guitar and drums. Most of the vocals on the album are sung, but Ales does occasionally growl, which sounds very good. His clean vocals are also good, often harmonizing with Natalia. True, the vocals are not always on-key, but this gives the album a bit of a rough-hewn quality that I think really fits the mood of the album.

In addition to the folk-style vocals, there are some bagpipes, flutes, and mouth harp to enhance the overall sound and atmosphere. Sometimes the mood seems festive, while other times it seems melancholic (a quality that I've noticed in just about every Belarusian metal CD I have... is it a cultural thing?). But overall I get a feeling of reverence and pride, and I feel good every time I listen to this CD. It's not a perfect album; I think it tends to drag a bit towards the end, when the female vocals disappear for a few tracks, but things pick up again on the final song of the album proper, the mournful-sounding Сiрацiнка.

As for the bonus tracks, I could take them or leave them. I didn't really need another version of Чорны Зніч (though this version isn't bad), but the early version of Купала На Йвана! is pretty good, if only to have another chance to hear the beautiful, layered female vocals at the end. Necessary? Certainly not.

I highly recommend Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca. It's probably not a good album to pick up if you're just getting into this style of music, since, as I mentioned earlier, it's pretty quirky, but I feel like it can stand proudly among the best of the genre. Those who like the folk choir-style vocals on Arkona's Ot Serdtsa K Nebu may enjoy the female vocals on Zapaviety Aposzniaha Starca.

Fans of Slavic pagan metal who are willing to overlook a few rough edges and quirks and discover the treasure beneath should definitely check out this one.

Album Review: Znich - Язычнік я... (2007 reissue)

Artist: Znich (Belarus)
Album Title: Язычнік я... (I Am the Pagan) + Bonus Tracks
Record Label: Volh Records (Russia)
Released: 1997, 2007 (reissue year)

They may not be as well-known as some of their Russian or Ukrainian counterparts, but Znich is one of the earlier Slavic pagan metal bands. The original incarnation of the band formed in 1996. I say original incarnation because there have been a bunch of lineup changes in Znich over the years, each one seemingly bringing a completely new sound to the band. I was first exposed to their music with their 2007 album Крыжы-абярэгi (Pagan Crosses), and although I thought that album was pretty decent, it didn't inspire me to go to great lengths to obtain their earlier albums. Then, during a Belarusian pagan metal mini-binge, I came across the Volh Records reissues of the first two Znich albums and decided to give them a chance.

First of all, let me tell you about the Volh reissue of the first album, Язычнік я... In addition to the 10 tracks that make up that album, Volh included their entire 1999 demo Дух зямлi. Not only that, but they include two of the tracks from their 2000 single (I don't have the Cyrillic title, but the English translation is Sensation of Spring). With these 9 bonus tracks, the total length of the CD is brought to 79 1/2 minutes, so you definitely get plenty of music crammed into this disc. But quantity does not guarantee quality, so what do we have?

If you think about it, 1997 was an eternity ago in the pagan metal scene. Butterfly Temple's Veles was still two years off, Nokturnal Mortum was only just releasing Goat Horns (or perhaps hadn't even released it yet), and many of the bands that make up the scene today didn't even exist yet. So how does Язычнік я... stand up after almost twelve years and hundreds of pagan metal albums released in the interim? Well, as you might expect, this album captures a less mature Znich than they one we see later, but it's still very listenable. The musicianship isn't the best, and Ales Tabolitch's growl is not yet balanced out by his unique, folkish clean vocals, but there's still a pretty solid collection of songs here. There is little or no folk to be found on these ten tracks. Instead, we have pagan doom metal with a lot of keyboards. It's somewhat generic, especially when compared to the unique sound they would later capture on what I consider their masterpiece (so far), Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca, but it's not bad. The sound quality is surprisingly good, considering it was apparently only available on cassette until 2004. All in all, it's definitely a respectable debut.

Next we dig into the bonus tracks, the bulk of which are made up of 1999 demo Дух зямлi. The sound quality certainly takes a turn for the worse during this section of the disc. I don't know if this was remastered like the first album was, but I would imagine that the demo wasn't recorded in a studio (or at least a decent one). Still, I think Дух зямлi is important because by this point we are seeing many of the elements that Znich would carry into the next decade. At this point, Ales begins using clean vocals in addition to the growls, though at times he sounds way off-key. The overall sound is still doom metal, but there are many folk elements being added to the mix, mostly in the vocals. On a few tracks, there's a female vocalist present, and she does a very nice job. Obviously, because of the recording quality, the overall effect lacks the kind of power it would otherwise have, which is a shame, since there are some good songs here as well. At least one (Ой, дымна за дваром) would later be re-recorded, and it appears on Крыжы-абярэгi. I don't know how the lineup on this demo differs from the first album (the digipack only lists a single lineup), so it's possible that lineup changes helped lead to this progression in sound. The demo's bonus track, "Propaganda," is a Sepultura cover. I have the original version of this song, but since I haven't listened to Sepultura in years, I can't remember what it sounds like, and I'm not about to dig through boxes in order to hear it. I like Znich's version, though. I would like to add that although the recording quality on Дух зямлi is not as good as Язычнік я..., you can still hear everything clearly, which is more than you can say for many demos.

The disc closes with two songs from Sensation of Spring. By this point, the band was continuing to progress into the sound they would carry to fruition on Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca, and actually these two songs are early versions of songs that would appear on that album. The female vocalist appears to be the same one as on Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca. The only track from the Sensation of Spring single that didn't make it on this disc, a newer version of Чорны Зніч (the original version of which appeared on Язычнік я..., and of which a later version would appear on Крыжы-абярэгi), would be included as a bonus track on the reissue of Zapaviety Aposniaha Starca.

There's a lot of music on this disc, but, unless you're a pretty big Znich fan or a completist, it may not be worth your while. It's good music, but I wouldn't call it essential. I am glad for Volh Records giving people another chance to hear this stuff, though, because, rough edges and all, there are certainly fans who will be interested in this.

Album Review: Калевала - Кудель белоснежного льна

Artist: Калевала (Kalevala) [Russia]
Album Title: Кудель белоснежного льна (Tow of Snow-white Flax)
Record Label: Sound Age (Russia)
Released: 2008 (April)

Ah, now THIS is folk metal. Kalevala may have only formed in 2007, following the departure of vocalist Kseniya and guitarist Nikita from the band Невидь (Nevid), but the band quickly gained attention after posting rather good demo tracks to their Myspace page. At some point, they were offered a contract with Sound Age (one of the best Russian labels), and without much delay released their debut CD, Tow of Snow-white Flax, which is easily one of the top albums in the folk metal genre in 2008 (and perhaps ever).

The lineage of Kalevala can be traced back to Butterfly Temple, one of the earliest Russian pagan/folk metal bands. Kseniya was a guest vocalist for that band, but following what was arguably Butterfly Temple's greatest work, 2003's Тропою крови по воле рода, she and Lesyar had left to form Nevid. Kseniya was a part of Nevid for their first two (and so far only) albums. Then, according to the biography on Kalevala's site, she and Lesyar had some sort of falling out and she and Nikita started this new band with a new focus. Because of Kseniya's apparent Finnish background, the style of Kalevala is heavily influenced by the music of that country, which possibly explains why they kind of sound like Korpiklaani.

Kseniya and Nikita were joined by the great Alexandr "Shmel" of Rarog on bass, Nikita's old school friend Aleksandr Oleynikov on accordion, and Vasiliy on drums, and then wasted no time putting together a demo and then writing songs for their debut full-length. Despite how quickly everything came together, Kalevala sounds rather confident and accomplished. Perhaps it is due to the experience of Kseniya, Nikita, and Schmel, who are no strangers to the folk metal scene, but this CD shows the creative and adventurous energy of a young band but the maturity and professionalism of a band that has played together for a much greater amount of time. It's the best of both worlds.

I liked Kseniya's voice in Butterfly Temple and Nevid, but I absolutely love it in Kalevala. Her voice is unique, and it sounds like a mix of modern and traditional vocal styles. She sounds confident, and leads the band with an infectious energy that is well-supported by the rest of the players. The accordion player is easily one of the best in the genre. He and Johannes Joseph of Finsterforst should have an accordion-solo contest, as they both manage to make their instruments an integral and inseparable part of their respective bands' sounds. Guitarist Nikita is no slouch either. Not simply content to let the accordion steal his thunder, he plays excellent lead guitar (and frequent solos) on this album. In many bands of this style (including Korpiklaani), there's a distinct lack of lead guitar, but nobody is relegated to background duty in Kalevala. Even bassist Shmel and drummer Vasiliy manage to shine on this album. Listen to this album on a stereo system with decent bass and you'll gain a greater appreciation for Shmel's contributions to the bouncy, energetic sound. The production is clear, full, and perfect for the style of music.

The lyrics, from what I could roughly translate online, seem to be old tales (perhaps folk tales) and love songs, and I think they're mostly or all written by Kseniya. I don't think there's much if any pagan lyrical content on the album. It's hard to tell, though, because most of the words aren't recognized by Google Translate. Perhaps they're archaic words, or Karelian. I don't know. The artwork and packaging are quite nice, and the booklet is a ridiculously thick 24 pages that barely fits behind the tabs that hold the insert in the CD case. All lyrics are printed, along with pictures of what appears to be drawings of old earrings and maybe brooches or pins. Not surprisingly, all information is in Russian. The credits include a few guest musicians, including two flute players and a guest vocalist on the final track (Valery Naumov of the band Ivan-Tsarevich).

Although many of the songs are fast-paced, with humppa-influenced rhythms, there's a pretty nice variety of styles on the album. Four tracks in, they slow things down with a ballad, Кудель белоснежного льна, but then pick things up again with the fantastic and popular Пастушок and Милый, the latter being probably the fastest song on the album (with the possible exception of the last few minutes of the final track). That is followed by Снега белые крыла, which shifts the style to a more traditional rock style, and sounds more like something from Nevid. Then they move to a faster song and then a mid-paced song. The final song is a metal rendition of the traditional Ukrainian song Ти ж мене пiдманула, and it's a fun and satisfying ending to a fantastic folk metal album.

Sound Age releases (like Pagan Reign, Arkona, or Izmoroz) normally aren't difficult to find among American metal distros, but I haven't seen this CD over here yet. I had to order it from Russia. That's a shame, but hopefully it's only temporary. I think an international metal label (like Napalm) would do well to license this CD for worldwide distribution, because Kalevala is just as good as, if not better than, the folk metal bands on larger metal labels. But, in the meantime, try to track down Tow of Snow-white Flax if you're a fan of lighter, energetic folk metal. It's a great album that is hopefully just the beginning of a long string of releases from an immensely talented band. They've recently posted a demo version of a song from their next album on their Myspace page, a ballad. So they're already working on a second album, and it sounds promising so far. Time will tell if it will be as good as their debut, but in the meantime I will be enjoying this one.

Album Review: Žrec - Žertva

Artist: Žrec (Czech Republic)
Album Title: Žertva
Record Label: Murderous Music Production (Czech Republic)
Released: 2008 (June)

Most of the well-known Slavonic pagan metal bands come from Russia, Ukraine, or Poland, but fortunately there seems to be a growing presence of bands from other Slavic nations. In this case we have Žrec (a word for a pagan priest), a relatively new band that hails from the Czech Republic. I came across their debut album, Žertva, by chance, and fortunately I did not pass up the opportunity to purchase it, because I have not seen it for sale anywhere since. Hopefully their label will get more copies distributed for sale, because Žrec is a good band that is worth checking out for fans of this kind of music.

Žrec plays pagan metal with a strong folk presence. Much of the folk sound comes from the violin, which is played by guest musician Petra Sélesová. The violin is practically ever-present on the album, sometimes playing folk-ish melodies and other times acting kind of like a lead guitar, since there is only one guitarist in the band. At any rate, it fleshes out the sound and is quite welcome to my ears. There are also flutes on the album, played by band member Ingvarr, who also supplies the clean vocals and keyboards. The other three members, guitarist Torham, bassist/harsh vocalist Soulburner, and drummer Sarapis, also play in a black metal band called Moravská Zima. Žrec sometimes sounds like black metal, due to the harsh vocals, but the metal itself sounds, to me at least, like it is also influenced by traditional heavy metal and possibly even thrash. At any rate, it's pretty unique. It almost sounds Russian at times (at least it does if you can't tell the difference between two Slavic languages by hearing them growled), but Žrec retains their own identity.

The production of Žertva is somewhat raw and imperfect, but the production actually gives it a somewhat earthy sound that fits quite well with the spirit of folk metal, in my opinion. Everything sounds natural; a bit unpolished, but not in a bad way. You can hear everything pretty clearly, even the bass. The songs don't always follow strict metal structures. For instance, mid-way through the title track, the music stops, is followed by a shout of "Sláva Mokoši!," and then changes gears for a more folkish section for more than a minute before returning to its normal self again. And track four, "Lystoczku Czerwenyj," is actually a Ukrainian folk song, and its rhythm may remind one of Korpiklaani.

An interesting choice for this album was the inclusion of a poeticized Czech-language cover of Nokturnal Mortum classic "Perun's Celestial Silver." It was a risky choice of tracks to cover, since "Perun's Celestial Silver" is one of the most beloved tracks among Nokturnal Mortum fans. As I've stated in at least one earlier review, I'm no great fan of covers, but, in my opinion, Žrec did an admirable job with this one. Rather than compare it to the original (and which would I compare it to, anyway? The Lunar Poetry version or the NeChrist version?), I'd like to remark that its inclusion as the penultimate song on Žertva does nothing to disrupt the flow of the album, nor does it clash stylistically with the rest of the songs. By doing the vocals in their own language and by adding their own distinct flavor to the song, Žrec has made the song their own. It's still recognizable as "Perun's Celestial Silver" from the very first seconds of the song, and it retains the black metal sound of the original, but it fits nicely on this album and is a welcome addition.

Another positive aspect of Žertva that is worth mentioning is the vocal performance by Ingvarr. His unique vocals fall somewhere between folk style and a more operatic style. His vocals aren't used as often as Soulburner's harsh vocals are, but they're used when appropriate and sound great on the aforementioned "Lystoczku Czerwenyj" and on the final track, "Raráš Rakáša," which is my favorite track on the album. Ingvarr also influenced the band to evolve into their present folk metal style, so his being added to the band was a great move, in my opinion.

Due to many factors, including distribution and location, Žrec may not gain nearly as much attention as they deserve from the pagan/folk metal community, but, if you have the opportunity, I recommend you check them out and try to get your hands on Žertva.

Album Review: Твердь - Вслед за Солнцеворотом

Artist: Твердь (Tverd) [Russia]
Album Title: Вслед за Солнцеворотом (Follow the Sun's Way)
Record Label: CD-Maximum (Russia)
Released: 2008 (October)

2008 saw many well-regarded pagan metal releases from bands on international metal labels, such as Arkona's Ot Serdtsa K Nebu (re-release), Equilibrium's Sagas, Týr's Land, and Eluveitie's Slania. An album that easily ranks among these, but is probably destined to be overlooked, is the excellent debut album by Russia's Tverd (or, more properly romanized, Tverd'). Unfortunately, like Alkonost or Butterfly Temple, Tverd doesn't have international distribution, but they deserve to.

Tverd is the band that Pagan Reign guitarist/traditional instrument-player Vetrodar began after that band broke up in mid-2007. Pagan Reign was a great band that seemed to be heading in an awesome direction with their final album, 2006's Tverd' (aka Ancient Fortress), with its inclusion of many traditional folk instruments, and many of us were grief-stricken when we found out they were no longer together. A planned acoustic album, apparently only featuring founding member Orey, never appeared. But then, suddenly, this new band Tverd appeared, and, due to the amount of Pagan Reign songwriting that had been done by Vetrodar, Tverd sounds rather similar to the final Pagan Reign album, except with different vocals. In fact, according to the insert notes (thankfully included in English), Tverd is meant to be a natural progression of Pagan Reign. Excellent!

Now, how about the actual album? Well, as I mentioned, the major departure from Pagan Reign is in the vocal department. Tverd has three vocalists. The harsh vocals are handled by Vetrodar, but they are not featured very prominently. Instead, many of the vocals are done in an operatic style (by Alexandr Ivanov) and folk style (by Svetlana Lebedeva). Some don't like the operatic vocals of Alexandr Ivanov, but I think they have a tendency to grow on a person. He has a great voice and range, and I think his vocal style fits the style of music. Svetlana Lebedeva is stated in the insert to do folk and academic opera style vocals, but I don't really hear the opera style. She does great folk-style vocals, though, and handles the lead vocals on Масленица Широкая ("Wide Maslenitsa") and the traditional На Чужую Сторонушку ("To the Foreign Land"). In other songs, she harmonizes beautifully with Alexandr.

Vetrodar plays guitar and a wide array of traditional instruments, including various flute and reed instruments, bagpipes, zhaleyka, balalaika, domra, and mandolin. There are several sections where you'll only hear the traditional instruments (along with acoustic guitar), including on the two instrumental pieces, but for the most part the traditional instruments are omnipresent, and they mix well with the metal elements. The songwriting on Follow the Sun's Way is top-notch all-around, and everything is well-played. The rest of the band is guitarist and gusli-player Ratibor, bassist Sigurd, and drummer Demosthen (another former Pagan Reign member). The lyrics are fairly typical of Russian pagan metal bands (battles, traditions, pro-Russian themes, nature, Slavic gods, etc.).

Follow the Sun's Way is a pretty heavy album, with crunchy guitar riffs, the occasional guitar solo, and some great and varied drumming, but it's made more accessible by the clean vocals and the presence of traditional instruments. Some people avoided Pagan Reign because of Orey's vocals (which I greatly enjoyed), but Tverd should give them no such excuses. Follow the Sun's Way is a pretty unique album and will probably not appeal to everyone, but in my opinion it's definitely one of the best you'll hear this year, if you can find it.

There are many highlights on this album, but the centerpiece is Богатырская Застава ("The Bogatyr’s Gates"), which is described as an "epic metal cantata." While I wouldn't go so far as to call it a cantata, this eight-and-a-half minute song is certainly epic. Alexandr Ivanov gives his best performance on this song, which tests the high end of his range (which, thankfully, never approaches Rob Halford territory; Ivanov is an operatic tenor). The songwriting on this piece is complex, and has a quality of Russian classical music. There's a beautiful acoustic part near the end, with some great vocal harmonizing, which continues as the song turns to metal again for a brief time until its abrupt ending.

The final song on the album, the instrumental (with the exception of Svetlana's wordless vocals) Печаль Земли Русской (Калинов Мост) ["Russian Land’s Sorrow (Kalinov’s Bridge)"], is the only one that breaks the pleasant folk metal mold that the rest of the album falls into. It does this rather harshly towards the end with the addition (or, in my opinion, intrusion) of heavy electronic elements. The first five minutes are beautiful, reminding me of the final, instrumental, song on Pagan Reign's Tverd', but then it unexpectedly turns into something akin to a track from Aphex Twin's Drukqs, and not one of the beautiful piano or ambient pieces. This jarring and annoying ending is the only negative I can find on Follow the Sun's Way, and I'm sure there was a reason for its inclusion, but I would have rather they not bothered with it.

Overall, this debut album from Tverd is an awesome release, and, at a little over an hour, it's a good length. It's ambitious to combine the operatic elements with folk and metal, but Tverd does a great job, and in the process have created one of the essential pagan metal albums of 2008. Highly recommended.

Album Review: Hellveto - Neoheresy

Artist: Hellveto (Poland)
Album Title: Neoheresy
Record Label: Pulverised Records (Singapore)
Released: 2008 (October)

One-man orchestral pagan metal project Hellveto is known for being prolific, having released several albums (and compilations, EP's, and demo reissues) since his proper debut album, Autumnal Night, in 2002. It's difficult to make any sense of the Hellveto discography, since there have been so many reissues and out-of-order album releases that one practically needs to become a Hellveto scholar in order to sort through them. Between 2005 and the end of 2007, there were ten full-length Hellveto releases, though most of the material had been recorded prior to 2005 and is made up of reissued demos, EP's, and albums that had not yet been given proper releases. Although this had the unfortunate effect of devaluing his music somewhat, these were years of feasting for Hellveto fans such as myself. Each song on each album is epic and dense, with (sampled or synthesized) orchestral and occasional choral elements weaving within the guitar, bass, drums, and harsh vocals. It's gorgeous and breathtaking music, though it often takes several listens for each piece of music to stand out from the others due to the often-singular sound that Hellveto employs.

There have been occasional wrinkles to the so-called "Hellveto formula," as well as a subtle progression over the years. Beginning with 2004's In Arms of Kurpian Phantom, L.O.N. (the moniker of the man behind Hellveto) began using live drums instead of the weak drum machine sounds used on earlier material. On 2005's Klatwa, the rather-flat sound of earlier releases was greatly improved, and material recorded beginning with that release use more panning and depth. On 2006's In the Glory of Heroes, Hellveto briefly experimented with distorted vocals similar to the ones Burzum employed on Filosofem.

On Neoheresy there is yet another large improvement to the production. The overall sound is "punchier" and more powerful than ever before. Though on most releases the guitars and drums are given generally the same levels as the synth and orchestral elements (resulting in a more classical sound than metal), on Neoheresy the metal elements are emphasized. The vocals are still somewhat buried, but the drums, bass, and guitar are clearly audible, while the orchestral and choral elements take a more supporting role than before. They're certainly there, and there's still an incredible amount of detail in the compositions, but you have to listen a little harder to be able to hear those details. Because of this, Neoheresy works on at least two different levels: it's immediately gratifying compared to most Hellveto works, but there's still that depth to be discovered upon repeat listens. Nice bits of choral vocal lines appear where you didn't notice them earlier, you begin to notice the classical-sounding guitar behind the bombastic drums and power chords, etc. There's a seemingly unlimited musical treasure to be unearthed within the dense framework of each of the six songs on Neoheresy, which has been the case with Hellveto for the last several years and over a dozen releases.

Neoheresy is also the only Hellveto release to appear in 2008, which practically feels like a drought when compared to the past few years. Upon listening to the final result, which is a wonderful (if brief) album, it's obvious that L.O.N. spent a great amount of time working on this album. A few tracks from these sessions appeared on last year's Crusade EP (packaged together with the reissue of Autumnal Night), but those songs, production-wise, sound nowhere near as good as the six that appear on Neoheresy do. L.O.N. is a master of his craft, an isolated genius of a composer and musician that continues to work on his own terms. I feel that, even if there weren't an audience to receive this music (which there is, and it has been growing), Hellveto would still be recording and releasing this stuff on CD-R or something, just as he was back in 2003. Which is not to say that L.O.N. doesn't care about his audience. The fact that he has generously reissued or unearthed so much older material via his own Ritual Execution label or others proves that he's aware of the demand for his music. And he released a video for "Taran," the track that begins this album, through the official Hellveto website.

It seems useless to do a track-by-track analysis of Neoheresy, but I will mention that the songs that begin and end the album, "Taran" and "Sredniowieczna Egzekucja," are brilliant bookends. "Taran" is a driving, addicting, and even catchy piece of music, beginning the album with the sound of guitar and the powerful sound of horses' hooves. Then it evolves and builds gradually throughout its almost-seven minute running time. "Sredniowieczna Egzekucja" includes some beautiful choral moments, piano, blastbeats, and some great melodies to bring the album to a satisfying conclusion. It's the best Hellveto album-ending song since "....Ktos Ty?" from Zmierzch.

Overall, the compositions are simpler and more straightforward than on past releases, but I think Hellveto fans will be happy with this one. Other than the production, it's certainly no great leap forward, but it's a very solid album that, in my opinion at least, stands proudly among the best Hellveto has released. It also creates an excellent starting point for people who want to give Hellveto a try but are intimidated by the size of the discography. It appears, at least by the evidence presented within Neoheresy, that L.O.N. is still full of creative energy and shows no sign of becoming weary of creating this rich and epic music. And now that releases have slowed down to a normal pace, fans like myself can finally give each new album the attention it deserves. Those who dislike the unique "orchestral pagan black metal" sound of Hellveto probably won't be won over by Neoheresy, but, then again, maybe they will. It's arguably the most accessible of his releases, and, given the distribution Pulverised has, it should gain this gem of a project some greatly-deserved recognition from the larger metal underground community.

Album Review: Kroda - Fimbulvinter

Artist: Крода (Kroda) [Ukraine]
Album Title: Похорон Сонця (Fimbulvinter)
Record Label: Hammermark Art (Germany)
Released: 2007

Kroda has become such a widely hailed pagan/folk metal band that it's kind of hard to believe they've only been a part of the scene since 2004's Cry To Me, River... While some bands build up a following before releasing their first album (through touring, festivals, etc.), Kroda never did a live show until 2007. Therefore, they quite literally appeared out of nowhere. It didn't take them too long to gain notice from pagan metal fans, because Cry To Me, River..., though a debut release (I don't think there was even a Kroda demo), was an incredibly mature album and one that holds up well even after repeated listens over the last few years. Not ones to stand still, the band followed it up with an awesome second album, Towards the Firmaments Verge of Life, in 2005. Then, amazingly, they produced their third, and most recent studio album, Fimbulvinter, at the beginning of 2007. While it's not amazing that a band would produce three albums in that amount of time, it's the quality and near-perfection of each album that is so difficult to believe. Oh, and they released two split CD's during the periods between album releases, and both split releases are great EP's in their own right.

I resisted "reviewing" this album for a long time, for one thing because I don't feel that I have anything valuable to say about it that hasn't already been said by several other, more talented, writers. But I managed to write about my other favorite albums of 2007 already, and Kroda just released a great live disc, Live In Lemberg, so it felt like the right time.

Fimbulvinter begins with the sound of cold wind, appropriately enough considering the concept of the album. The word Fimbulvinter, which means "the great winter," refers to the long winter that will take place before Ragnarök. Therefore Fimbulvinter, the album, is also long and cold. The sunny folk melodies of the previous two albums are replaced by darker folk melodies on Fimbulvinter, though there's certainly still a significant amount of flute and mouth harp to be heard. Some fans have complained about the somewhat-diminished folk presence on Fimbulvinter, but I find it appropriate to the subject matter. I don't even think it's diminished all that much; it just doesn't stand out from the rest of the music as much as on other Kroda albums.

So where was I? Oh, yes, the sound of cold wind beginning the album. After about 25 seconds, the music itself begins, with a theme played on guitar that will become the central theme for the opening track, "The Beginning of Winter Night of Oskorei," which clocks in at almost 12 minutes. Incidentally, there are only five tracks on this album, but the shortest is just under 9 minutes long, and the album itself is a healthy 55 minutes in length. The album opens on an epic note, and at first it may seem that there is no way that the album can sustain such momentum, but it does. Man oh man, does it ever. Each song on this album is excellent, like an epic in itself. The music is densely woven yet blistering, and Eisenslav's voice is in fine form. He growls, shrieks, and howls through his well-written lyrics (which are translated into English in the booklet), his voice full of fire and venom. Eisenslav has one of my favorite black metal voices, and Fimbulvinter may be his best performance.

But each song doesn't just blast along at full-speed at all times. There are breaks within each song where the listener can catch his or her breath while being treated to some lovely (though not so lovely that they ruin the desolate and cold atmosphere of the songs) flute parts, which are backed by atmospheric synths, strummed guitar, and sound effects. Sometimes you can hear sampled (or synthesized?) choirs and folk vocals during these parts. But Kroda doesn't let you get too comfortable for too long, and will launch back into a full-scale metal assault, sometimes with blastbeats and fast tremolo-picked riffs. But obviously their goal isn't to simply pummel the listener. Any metal band can do that. They are more methodical than that. Every part has its purpose, and its the contrasts that makes this album, like any Kroda album, something that transcends metal. If I were forced to make a case that extreme metal has just as much right to be considered fine musical art as any other style of music, I would play this album in its entirety before even bothering to make any arguments.

Kroda has also included, as usual, some lovely packaging to accompany the music. If you have any other Kroda albums, you'll sort of know what to expect, except this time everything is covered in snow. In fact, the landscape on the cover is the same location as the landscape on the cover of Cry To Me, River..., except in a different season.

Following my personal favorite Kroda track, "Funeral of the Sun," is a cover of Branikald's "A Stormride." I don't usually like the idea of bands including cover songs on their albums, much less closing the album with one, but Kroda has made this song their own. I'm not familiar with the original, but I am familiar with Branikald of the mid-90's (pre-dating Blazebirth Hall's more controversial era), and it doesn't sound at all like this. The lyrics and the overall sound fit well with the rest of the album, and if the insert didn't tell me it was a cover song, there's no way I would have guessed. It's just another great Kroda track.

I don't need to tell most pagan metal fans to buy this album. Most will already be familiar with Kroda, and out of that group, there are many who are already fans. But if, by some chance, you haven't heard these guys, they're definitely one of the essential bands in pagan metal, so check them out. Fimbulvinter is one of the great metal albums of 2007, and it shouldn't be missed.