Heathen Foray – The Passage
Genre: Viking Metal
Label: Black Bards Entertainment
Heathen Foray is an Austrian Viking metal band that was formed in 2005, taking their name from a Falkenbach song. They center their music around history, mythology, and nature, all with songs clocking in at radio-length to long radio-length.
Their sound is deep and dark, and epic as hell, and it’s garnered them a support spot on the Paganfest 2008 tour featuring Ensiferum, Moonsorrow, Korpiklaani, Tyr and Eluveitie. In other words, these guys aren’t just screwing around, they are serious about their craft, and it shows in the music too. The chemistry these guys have is heard clearly on songs like “Chants”, which is also my favorite on the album, as well as “Dragon’s Eyes”, “Winterking”, and “Northstar”.
In all, it’s a solid album full of great riffs, excellent musicianship, and some Metalgasmic solos. If you’re into Viking or folk metal, I’d say you should get this.
7.5 out of 10.
Heathen Foray on MySpace.