Monthly Archives: April 2017

Review

Underground Sounds: Hermóðr – The Howling Mountains

Leave a comment

Label: Wolfspell Records
Band: Hermóðr
Origin: Sweden

The man behind Hermóðr is Rafn, a man who has been active in dozens of black metal projects in the past (like Mist, Deadlife and Vredesmod but an uncannily long list more). This one has been one of the longer running ones. Atmospheric black metal with a focus on nature, the north and the ancient times when the world was still younger and more close to us.

In the music of Hermóðr the listener finds something grand, the uncharted nature and the wide stretches of uninhabited ground. On the cover alone the cliffy coast beckons in a golden morning light, while calling the brave and bould to approach. I’m immediately pulled in by that imagery. There’s definitely a strain of folk music present here too.

The trickling intro promises mystery and adventure as well, but also the feeling of autumn in the air. The music never really transgresses into the tremolo and blast beat grounds of more traditional black metal and remains a more ambient metal-like soundtrack to the season. The slow progressions on songs like ‘Summer Ends’ are more inward. Introspective tunes that make the listener look back at himself. Thoughtful and with a haunting beauty the songs wander by, with an odd guitar riff spinning out or a bass line clinging to the inner ear for a moment.

Even on ‘The Mystic Forest’ the leaves are turning and icy vocals reach out to you. They’re buried deep in the mix, which I don’t always get. Lyrics should be audible atleast I feel, but it works here. The repetitive shimmering guitar parts lull the listener into a dreamy state, enjoying the natural state of the world around them. It reminds me a bit of Falkenbach, though maybe with that modern element of Drudkh. The slow, pastoral progressions, the laborious toiling of nature. The music falls in with the current movement that takes out the human part and shows nature in a pure, unspoiled way. A tradition harking back to the ‘Dunkelheit’ video by Burzum even.

A good example of really going in that direction is the song ‘Snow and Ice’, which really fades in a noisy snowstorm towards its end. The dirge-like sound just fades away due to a hazy cloud of noise. This album is one that is special. It certainly possesses its own darkness an depressive qualities, but these are just the shifting elements of nature. There’s  a simple grandeur to a track like ‘The Howling Mountains’.  There lies its beauty, in its uncomplicated appraisal for the natural.

Review

Underground Sounds: Various – Tales from the Southern Realm (Australia)

Leave a comment

Origin: Australia
Label: Independent
Bands: Wrath of Fenrir, Stormtide, Saralisse, Trollgasm, Enviktas, Beast Impaler, Pagans Realm, Tomes Of Ruin

An album full of Australian folk metal, imagine that? Well, it exists and under the title ‘Tales From The Southern Realm’. Eight bands with varying sounds, so time to check out what Australia has to offer in a genre riddled bands that stick close to the sound of Finntroll and Ensiferum. Let’s be honest, folk metal is a genre of clichés, where a sincere and different sound is a reare found. Am I doubting this record in advance? No, because folk metal is one of my favorite genres and is often delivered with an honest love for the music. The hype around the stylistic direction has been a true catalyst for a swarm of mediocre acts in the past though.

Wrath of Fenrir – Awaken The Frost

The first track on the record is by Perth inhabitants Wrath of Fenrir. The band mixes folk and black, drawing inspiration from… the far, far northern Viking culture and the Edda. The group has released one EP and apart from that is not one you’re likely to have heard of.

Thougho offering a clean production and some tight rhythm, the screams and grunts exchange a bit too regularly. The whole thing feels a bit too formulaic. Regardless, it sounds brutal and I guess that there’s some potence here.

Stormtide – As Two Worlds Collide

Though at first I though it would go in an Amon Amarth direction, thanks to the intro, the more Equilibrium-like keys quickly followed. I don’t know if I like it better after hearing it a bunch of times yet. There’s a lot I like about both those bands, but the combination is a bit odd to me.

The band from Melbourne has by now released their full length. That puts these guys on the map, having signed to Metal Hell Records. The synths make this song incredibly catchy and cinematic, but I wonder if they really need them. Personally I dig this German approacht to the genre. A good track by Stormtide!

Tomes Of Ruin – A Knights Regret

Now, there we go with some more Amon Amarth sounding death metal, including the swooping riffs and some actual story telling. The music is tight, but stays a bit flat so to say, really sticking to that riff and running with it all the way to the end. There’s another reference that is eluding me at the moment, but this band definitely fits in with a certain style. Maybe some Svartsot is in the mix.

The vocals are quite tight, but when it’s not guttural the barks seems strangely out of place in contrast with the clean production. The distinct vocal style is that of a story teller, but with a bit of a black metal bark to it. The continuous pumping rhythm even has a bit of Bolt Thrower to it. Peculiarly enjoyable.

Enviktas – Skinwalker

Blending their extreme metal with medieval elements and segments of world music, the band Enviktas from Newcastle has a peculiar sound. The intriguing intro immediately sets the band apart from their peers. Strange sounds set a nervous mood of threat and danger. There are a lot of sounds that are tricky to place, but what is most noticable is the lack of filling. Enviktas makes the most of their instruments.

How they do that? Rhythm takes an important roll in the sound of Enviktas. Wether it’s the primitive drums or the pulsating dideridoo sound, it can stand on its own, while riffs create spaces where just rhythm is there. There’s a lot of space in the sound of this group, which allows for a peculiarly effective and different vibe.

Trollgasm – Quest For Glory

Though the name suggested a more fun sound, but this band fully embraced the more folk-oriented Scandinavian sound. Though the group has split up, there’s a good grasp of the epic and mystical to their sound with well placed keys and big guitar archs. An added value to the track are the vocals of Wulfstand from English band Forefather. His clear chants give the tune a more authentic vibe (though more British obviously).

The track is definitely one of the more reverential and grand of this compilation. I must say I didn’t expect this from a band with ‘gasm’ at the end of their name. Specially the folky instruments are well placed and balanced with the music.

Beast Impaler – Community Dinner

There we have the funny bit of the recordw, with a group that sounds a bit like Finntroll in their early days, with the party streak of Trollfest. A beat that seems to derive from polka is excellent if you need your listeners to move. The jagged pace keeps it agressive and ‘trollish’.

The sound of Beast Impaler is heavy with synths and to me sounds a bit dated. Though I enjoy the time travel back, it doesn’t really stick that long in your head. Again, highly unlikely to hear something like this from Australia.

Pagans Realm – March of the wolfs head bannerman

These guys were a bit harder to trace, but they clearly take to the more showy parts of the genre, judging by their live pictures. What you hear is more a kind to Amon Amarth meets Turisas. The light instrumentals are in sharp contrast with the roared vocals.

Though I don’t entirely feel the balance between the music and vocals, I feel the energy of this band. Like AA, this is a band that you’d like to see live. The galloping rhythms and well timed breaks keep things catchy. Unfortunately this band also called it quits this year. A shame for that scene in Australia.

Saralisse – Into the sky

Closer of this collection is the Group Saralisse, who are indeed closer to the more theatrical power metal approach to the folk genre. Though that is only the opening part I found, once the track gets rolling we really more into the Ensiferium spheres of catchy, keyboard filled melodic death riffing.

Though the band has only released an EP, the group seems to still be rather active. The recording and production of this track are awesome in my headphones and feel like something that could appeal to a broad range of people. Cool!

Thoughts

I started writing this review with the wish to do a track by track of something peculiar: folk metal in Australia. It’s great to see that the country has a fascinating scene going on there, with interesting acts and good tunes. Only goes to show that metal takes root in all forms. It seems that the folk metal harks back to Europe and a fantasy-like image of the continent in ages past. This is a peculiar thing, perhaps the distance has changed the emotions attached to these images, but it’s fascinating to hear these bands do their thing in an own way, with some fresh and free aspects to it.

Review

Underground: Armor Force – Exile

Leave a comment

Label: Infected Blood / Kill The Light Productions
Band: Armor Force
Origin: China

Bands froms certain parts of the world just do things differently. That definitely goes for Armour Force, who combine folk with death metal vocals in a rather direct way. And by direct I mean that there’s really no blended terrain or common ground being trodden, it is at times literally death metal grunts over sea shanty passages.

This is the first EP by the Beijing band, which was originally released in 2015. Since then they only did a single, on another label from Inner Mongolia. The music the band makes seems to be an odd mix of various styles, but definitely finds some inspiration in the sword and sorcery movements, I gather from the logo.

So trust me, you won’t know what hits you when the first notes arrive. It opens like a melancholic folk song, maybe even some dungeon synth. meandering, notes that suddenly launch into a blast of bagpipes with a ripping guitar behind them. A flute takes over while the sound lowers and a deep grunt emerges. It’s as if you hear the pining Chinese traditionals with a full on metal riffs. It’s a bit much all in all, but sort of cool if you drop the genre definitions.

The following track is titled ‘Jade Horn’ and features the same flute and a more sea shanty like melody, remniscent of Alestorm. It’s sort of along those lines that the song swings onwards. Cheery folk tunes with peculiarly tight and condensed riffing, but always that almost surreal party sound. It makes for a strange album altogether, of which I can’t really detect much of the real idea and concept behind it. The recorded quality of the riffs and vocals is significantly poorer, almost sounding like midi files, particularly on ‘The Day Of Downthrow’. The band drops the synth for a moment to just get the gritty guitars to the front.

I wonder how this band is sounding on  a proper produced record, because when you really listen closely this has a promise to it. Right now, it feels like a strange gaming soundtrack, but still sort of cool.

Review

Underground Sounds: Paleowolf – Genesis/Prehistoric Meditations

3 Comments

Band: Paleowolf
Origin: Serbia

Paleowolf really impressed me with their shamanistic debut album, full of beautiful, transcendental ambient music. The record was a surprise in an otherwise dense forest of mediocre interpretations of the far past. Apart from releases of the Russian Nomus Dei and Black Mara labels, not much can come clos to the work of Paleowolf in my opinion when it comes to ambient that embraces the primordial.

So, what I didn’t know is that Paleowolf is the side project of Scorpio V of Metatron Omega. With Paleowolf we travel through the world before it was civilised, when drums echo in ritual in valleys between rough mountain ridges. Where bonfires are the illumination during the night, to keep predators at bay and allowing the poeple to marvel at its destructive force. War, death and the hunt of primitive man is painted in the tones of this music.

Genesis (2016)

Label: Cryo Chamber

source: bandcamp

On ‘Genesis’, we hear a Paleowolf in a complete immersion in Paleolithic life. We see the fire emerge from between the trees and rise to a roaring height, illuminating the wide region like a beacon of sorts, for all wanderers. Is it fa friendly fire or is it danger? Is this then the first fire to be raised in an otherwise dark world? In that case, it would match the title. With the finding of fire, mankind enters a new era of domination.

The music is the sound of bird and the crackling of the fire, the eerie sound of wind instruments and throaty, shamanistic singing. Tribal drumming in praise of forgotten gods and to announce war or ceremony. A hurried, hunted sound forms on ‘Hunter II’. The listener witnesses the shapes running between the trees in chase of prey. This all happens in a forest filled with sounds. On ‘Eastern Tribes’ we hear more of a threatening sound. Not necessarily of war, but of seizing each other up. Of people encountering each other in the vast emptiness of the primordial world. The primitive instruments  resound in the play of power, where drums are banged and morose mouth harps resound.

Interesting fact, is that this release is different design-wise. The picture shows a shot of nature, fire between trees, with a discrete logo with runes. This differs from the self released records by Paleowolf, which are more designed and feel more abstract. ‘Genesis’ is a record that grows, that opens up and takes the listener to a different time.

Prehistoric Meditations (2017)

source: bandcamp

On the self-released ‘Prehistoric Meditations’, we enter a more meditative mood, less descriptive, more inwards and abstract. Slow droning sounds, pleasant nature sounds and dreamy passages. This is a different sort of record. Unlike  ‘Genesis’ the music is less focussed on the surroundings and more on the internal listener.

The listener therefor goes more on a spiritual journey while listening to this record. It’s made to meditate to, to relax to and explore. I’ve read about the Aborigines ‘Dream world’ and I think that this resembles most closely where Paleowolf is trying to take you to with this meditative record.

The album consists of three tracks, offering a three step rocket into the subconscious, a  gradual descent into the magical times. The droning tones, the gentle whisperings and tittering of birds touches upon something primal within you. It allows you to focus completely and try to detect the origins, it is a mind cleaner, a deep meditation and quest. Gently water is flowing, wind pipes chime and a gentle buzz fills the ear. As you come to a deep calm, deep voices chant again.

This is an album for headphones, for a solitary listener in a state of rest. It’s drony, ambient minimalism is a unique listening experience and I’ve not been able to find an artist who comes close to the sound of Paleowolf. Their attempt to reconnect with the primordial self, with the ancestor cult is something you need to be open to as a listener to truly find your way in the sound, particularly relevant on the meditative records.

Review

Underground Sounds: Endalok – Úr Draumheimi Viðurstyggðar

1 Comment

Label:Hellthrasher Productions
Band: Endalok
Origin: Iceland

A whole mouthful, the title of this album ‘Úr Draumheimi Viðurstyggðar’, but a worthy new showdown in the continuous flow of Icelandic black metal. It has everything indeed to sound dark and grim in a similar way to every band from over there (without sounding the same). Endalok has found their own flavor of black metal though, heavy on atmosphere.

The members of this band are not known as far as I could find out about it, but they did drop a demo earlier, which was well received. The artwork features tentacles reaching out from utter darkness. It catches the vibe of this dark as hell record methinks. It also predicts something of what the approach is from this group.

Endalok seems to be a band that loves their slow progressions and foreboding tones. Whether it’s the introductionairy riffing, or a slow intermezzo, the haunting threat in their sound is omnipresent and very characteristic of this band. The blistering speed is lacking, but a continuous feeling of ominous looming is even conveyed through the blasted drums on ‘Afskræming holds og sálar’. You could compare the sound of Endalok to a thickish, barrel aged stout beer. It’s very full of flavor, a bit sticky and completely overwhelming.

In some respects the band reminds me of Dragged Into Sunlight. Not for the ferocity, but the haunted feeling of something lurking nearby. The mix is highly distorted, creating bigger, cohesive sounds in which the elements sometimes merge together. Endalok is more one dimensional, but does have the chaotic sound of nightmares ready and waiting for their listeners. Like the cover predicts, it is that thing reaching out from the darkness. The lurking danger from beyond. The wavery riffs, the rolling drums and the guttural barks that form within the foggy sound are a harrowing experience. The haunting, peculiar sound is something special on this first real release by this band. Can’t  wait to hear more like ‘Holdgerving Andskotans’. Fear of the dark.

Review

Underground Sounds: Hounds of Bayanay – Myyc

Leave a comment

Label: Independent
Band: Hounds of Bayanay
Origin: Russia

Russia is an immensen country, so it is not surprise to find separate identities in the far corners of the wide realm. A band like Hounds of Bayanay from far of places is therefor even more interesting. Yakutsk is one of those far of places. The city functions as the capital of the remote and frozen Sakha Republic, an autonomous region of Russia. The regions inhabitants are the Yakuts, a Turkic people who find this their most northern living region.

The muddled original history of the region is much coloured by the deportation of dissidents to the Sakha region. From the tsarists times to the soviet days, many Russians ended up on the remote, eastern land. The band Hounds of Bayanay therefor mixes  cultural influences, which you can hear on their first EP titled ‘Myyc’.

The beauty of people creating a blend of music with metal and indiginous music, is that it always sounds new. There’s a piece of music there, which hasn’t been made before and often free of a lot of the conventional elements. The same goes for the Yakuth themed metal of this young group, with Russian progrock influences, hardrock an chanting on ‘Mountains of the North’.  A catchy track with singalong potentian and a very open, accessible structure. The folk features are definitely prevalent.

Interesting follow up ‘Lost happiness’  kicks of with a postrock passage, before morphing into fierce metalcore. The vocals on this song remind me a bit of the sound certain Japanese metal bands have, with a contrasting tension btween the vocals and the riff heavy metal parts. But what an ungodly scream does  vocalist Aina Keres have! Arkona anyone?  Good stuff, though the band really captivates me on the final track. With some ethnic vocal delivery and folky lines woven into the guitar play, this song stands out as the most peculiar and interesting track of the album. Delivered with a certain passion, the vocals appear tribal, so does the drum.

The band has released two demo’s in the past, but does the right thing with an EP. It’s uncertain certain how much attention their music will gather, but I’m definitely intrigued by their far off land now. Hopefully they get the attention they deserve with this magnificent EP.