New Jersey folk metal horde Windfaerer recently posted two new tracks to their official MySpace page.
“These Walls (Frozen In Time)” and “This Beautiful Death” (which features bagpipe work by Sevan Kirder, formerly of Eluveitie) come off the trio’s debut full-length, Tribus. Check out the tracks here. Tribus was recorded and mixed at Frightbox Recording (Clifton, NJ) by Bobby Torres and follows the band’s two-song demo Glorybound, released last year to mass underground accolades.
Said main songwriter Goncalves of the new tunes: “Tribus is in essence a collection of everyday themes set in a time of Iberian legend. The songs touch upon rebellion against Romans in ancient Hispania and Lusitania, expansion to new lands, as well as voyaging into the unknown. I’m excited about the way everything sounds and how it all came together. I’ve had this vision for a while and it’s almost euphoric to be able to finally realize it!”
Further details on Tribus to follow shortly…
Download the Glorybound demo here.
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Genre: Black Metal, Folk Metal
Label: Independent
Old Corpse Road struck an immediate chord with me and my small town past. I lived in Molalla for a while (a tiny, bumfuck town that’s populated by hicks and inbred Christians) and had an experience that parallels one of the yarns on The Echoes Of Tales Once Told. There was a long and overgrown road that you had to pass through to get to the main part of town for where I was staying (miles away… fucking sucked) that was chock full of scary stories and urban legends (and discarded condoms and needles). It lead past the old and mostly forgotten cemetery, which was equidistant from the town and the housing settlement. The path I traveled was actually two paths combined; one from town to the cemetery and the other from the cemetery to the settlement. This creep-tastic path was refered to as “The 420 Trail” by the “cool” high schoolers… but some of the old timers called it, you guessed it, The Old Corpse Road!
Ok, enough of that! Onto the review!
The U.K. five some known as Old Corpse Road, bring a wee bit of superstition to the table with their blackened offering of an EP, The Echoes Of Tales Once Told. Immediately, the listener is pulled in and thrashed about by the torrent of intense melodies and tortured vocals! Also brought into the terrifying turbulence of it all is the addition of a violin, which is uses sparingly and thus, masterfully! Lyrically, OCR dives into their homeland’s darker history to find inspiration (take the little Oakmen for example). As far as musical influences go; Primordial and Emperor… Nuff said!
This EP is only three tracks long… and I’m actually ok with that. Sometimes, all you need is three tracks of PERFECT black metal to be satisfied, you know?
Overall: This album is easily some of the most inventive and intelligent metal I’ve ever heard. The Echoes Of Tales Once Told pulls you in with old world lore and encapsulates you with the vicious black metal that culminates in the feeling dread, produced by ghost from worlds almost forgotten! EP stands for EPIC!!!
10/10
Old Corpse Road On MySpace
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Genre: Black Metal, Folk
Alright! Another contender from Paragon Records who’s geared up and ready to attempt to kick my ass with brooding black metal! Let’s see how these Ukrainian black/pagan metalers stand up to a formidable catalog…
Oh my! Khors have managed to bounce back after their last album Cold, left me feeling about the same. With Mysticism however, they managed a whirly-gig of a style change from forgettable, no frills blah brand black metal to a whimsical, chillaxed version. Akin to Ceremonial Castings’ Into The Black Forest Of Witchery, Mysticism takes you on a frightening journey through the depressive state of man and nature share when in less than perfect sync with one another. Forceful vocals lash out with screeching hatred at the listener a he tried to make peace with the world around him. But the occasional presence of synths and the haunting spectral guitars uproot your firm footing in reality and cast you, spiraling back into the abyss… damn. This album plays with your head!
Overall: A vast improvement over Cold. This is one record with hunting down for black metalers, doomsters and folkies!
9/10
Khors On MySpace
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Genre: Pagan Folk Metal
Label: Napalm Records
A pretty damn good metal album sits here in the arms of Heidevolk, full of Dutch lyrics, heavy guitars, and epic traditional instruments.
From Gelderland, a province of the Netherlands, Heidevolk use the history of their homeland to weave these folk metal songs. I just wish I understood Dutch, I’d be having a great history lesson right now! My favorite track is the faster paced “Dondergod”, with the slightly slower “Gelders Lied” right behind it.
If you like mandolins and violins and pounding drums joining forces, raise your mead horns high to Heidevolk.
7.5 out of 10.
Heidevolk on MySpace.
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Genre: Folk Metal
Label: Napalm Records
It’s been a while since I practiced my Dutch or read anything about Germanic history or mythology… but I don’t think any of that matters since Uit Oude Grond is a headbanging good time!
Uit Oude Grond (meaning, “from old soil” in English) is rife with heavy, crushing riffs and raging basslines that appear to be born and bread for battle! The vocal approach is a sturdy one at that, combining Dutch lyrics with clean and death vocals that resonate off of one another in perfect harmony. As for the token unique instrument, the violin accents everything it was meant to and is a more than welcome addition to the fray. And if you dig magic as well as might, then these songs are right up your alley with content ranging from Nehalennia, the Goddess of trade and fertility, Vlammenzee, a song about a man who dies and has his spear pointing towards his next destination; beside the all-father Woden, Dondergod, the God of thunder and his giant slaying adventures and my favorite, Best Bij Nacht, which means “beast by night”. A vicious tale about a werewolf and his prey!
Overall: Heidevolk breaths new life into a genre that blew up too big, too fast with Uit Oude Grond. It’s a mythology/history lesson that kicks your ass from beginning to end with it‘s folk-y tinge and metal heart! A must own for any fan of the genre.
9.5/10
Heidevolk on MySpace
Originally Posted at E-MetalSpace
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