Random CD grab: Moonsorrow - Tulimyrsky EP (2008)

Ah ha, pulled by random from my album collection we have Moonsorrow's Tulimyrsky EP! Which is a good thing, because I have been on a death/black metal kick lately and I don't want to succumb to posting only limited genres on this here blog.

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Moonsorrow shouldn't be a new name to any of you, masters of the genre, we'll call it "epic heathen metal" since that is the bands claimed banners they ride under. This is an EP, well over the 1-hour mark? I'll focus on the title track Tulimyrsky, since it encompasses the entire genre perfectly and is reason enough to download this EP. 30 minutes of heathenish glory with no cheese or fucking around, raw black metal with battlefield atmosphere, jaunty folk interludes, and Finnish dialogue. There we have it, 30 minutes described in a single sentence. I bought this new for 5$, you can have it for free as long as you pledge to purchase it if you ever see it for the same price. (Honestly though, kudos to Moonsorrow. The extensive and alluring 5-page artwork by Kris Verwimp is worth the 5$ alone.)

Tulimyrsky

Vintersorg - Ödemarkens Son (1999)

To me, Vintersorg have never made an album as good as Ödemarkens Son. The melody's on this album are what shine through over everything else, whether those melody's are created by the guitar, vocals or my personal favorite, the way the bass drum follows that harmony. A lot of the magic and allure of this album do come from the vocal styles though, his clean baritone vocals are captivating and powerful, and at times a female vocalist is present, delivering even more magic.

Grab if you Like: Svarga, Otyg, Borknagar

Ödemarkens Son

Myrkgrav - Trollskau Skroemt Og Koelabrenning (2006)

Sometimes I know I have too much music in my collection because often times hidden gems will reveal themselves to me when I do my daily shuffle of my entire collection. This is a good way for me to stumble on an album I may not have payed enough attention to the first time around. Trollskau Skroemt Og Koelabrenning by Norway's one-man band Myrkgrav is a good example of this.

I actually do recall downloading this something like 4 years ago thinking it was pretty fucking awesome, but must of lacked in the "catchyness" side of things like it's folk metal cohorts Finntroll, Lemuria, Runic, etc. Shit, I absolutely hate when someone likes a song or band simply because they're catchy. (fuck that)

Here we have archetypal Norsk black metal firmly rooted in the Scandinavian folk elements. Vocals range from harsh and cold growls to a more somber clean vocals, all sung in the olden Norwegian dialect. I can find not a single complaint. 

Grab if you Like: Windir, Galar, Svarga

Myrkgrav

Trollfest - En Kvest for Den Hellige Gral (2011)

"Warm black metal. Black metal for those who live on the Brazilian beaches." These videos will explain everything that needs to be said.

TROLL!

Woodland - Dreamality (2009)

Here is a folk metal album by Woodland that took me a little while to get into and I really can't figure out why that is, since it rips pretty fucking hard. Not "rips" in the sense of furious tremolo picking and blasting drums, but in the sense of musicianship. It doesn't share that "heard this before..." type of structure that you might expect from a band in this genre.

If you were to look on my Last.FM profile you would notice that I listen to every album while I do a write up for it, to keep things fresh in my head...and well genuine perhaps. But my fucking point is, I have spent half the time writing this drumming on my goddamn desk. I enjoy it, you may not, which in that case. EATABAGOFDICKS.

FIXED: The password for the link is "trueblackmetal" (one of the only download links left for this album, let me know if there are any problems.)

Sailing through rain and through storm. (sorry, way to kvlt for a Mediafire link)

Dalriada - Igeret (2011)

And the least "Metal looking" album cover of the year award goes to...well it's a little too early for that. Any fucking way Dalriada of Hungary are back and have released their fourth full length album chalked with traditional Hungarian Folk Metal.

So, the female vocalist has decided she is going to let out some growls on this fucker and I must say it worked out quite well, giving some songs more balls to it. Also, is there a harmonica solo on song #3 or am I just out of my fucking skull? Not only that but the riff on song #3 is also crack to my ears. Jonne Järvelä of Korpiklaani also does guest vocals on the song "Leszek a Hold"! Everything is really good, I will leave it at that.

Either way, you like it or you don't. If you do, buy the fucking thing, these chaps deserve the money. (As do all the artists who ear fuck you on the daily basis for your listening pleasure. Don't be a frugal cunt.)

Naygon szép

Korpiklaani - Ukon Wacka (2011)

Okay so Korpiklaani churn out records more often than you defecate, but lets be honest, it's not like they are creating ground breaking tunes that will forever shape the fabric of music. BUT, they have spent about 2 years making this one! Korpiklaani started off playing traditional folk music in pubs before they added the metal element to their music, which for some reason adds a nod of authenticity to it all. Fuck you, yes it does.

Usually when it comes to Korpiklaani albums there tends to be this impending problem of too many filler songs. You know, songs where it seemed they did not get drunk enough to create something entirely memorable. On Ukon Wacka there seems to be less filler songs and more of the folk driven melodies that we have known to love.


Perkele!