Ungfell - Mythen, Mären, Pestilenz (2018)

•  †  •

Most pieces of music that fall under the umbrella of folk/black metal tend to scare me away these days, but Ungfell's sophomore release has quelled my fear and restored a flake of trust back into the melding of these genres. The folk elements aren't abrasive and dummied-down caricatures of traditional folk so it weaves into the music well. I've been listening to a bludgeoning amount of gurgly death metal lately, so these shrieky vocals are a good change of pace. Fans of Myrkgrav, Havukruunu, Moonsorrow, will find joy here.

Mythen, Mären, Pestilenz (bandcamp)

King of Asgard - Fi'mbulvintr (2010)

Brace yourselves, I'm doing something that I haven't done in a little while...posting an album for you mongrels to check out. Amazing, I know. Here we have King of Asgard, with former guitarist and drummer of one of my favorite folk/viking metal bands Mithotyn. Sadly it is no Gathered Around The Oaken Table, but it does still stand on it's own two feet and remains to be enjoyable, especially in these cold dark days.

Grab if you like: Mithotyn, Manegarm, Nomans Land

Winter

Drudkh - Blood In Our Wells (2006)

Winter is upon us, time to get out the hockey skates and listen to cold atmospheric black metal. Drudkh encompasses everything I want to hear during these dark cold times. I live in the northern cold of Canada so all of what I am saying seems appropriate, but If you dwell in an area where these seasons don't affect you, then you are weak!

Grab if you like: Kroda, Wodensthrone, Black Lotus (All these are essential albums to have, enjoy the melancholy)

The chilling cold builds character.

Finntroll - Visor Om Slutet (2003)

Winter approaches, and for some reason Finntroll's Visor Om Slutet reminds me of these dark, cold times. A self-proclaimed "acoustic/experimental" EP chalked full of trollish jaunts and rather intriguing interludes that find themselves to have a cinematic quality. It all comes together though, and when listened all the way through, it's as if you dropped 3 sheets of acid, downed a bottle of bourbon and went strolling though the forest. I can only imagine what type of creatures you would find on that particular journey, but this would be the soundtrack.

Grab if you like: Manegarm, Les Batards Du Nord, Kromlek

Visor Om Slutet

Manegarm - The Forest Sessions (2006)

Manegarm's approach to a strictly folk album. A myriad of visuals will run through your head as rich soundscapes take hold. Goblin mosh.

Grab if you like: Ulver, Tenhi, October Falls

The Forest Session

Wodensthrone - Loss (2009)

 

A whole week since my last post, that shit happens though. I have been pre-occupied with the business of life to pay much attention to the virtual world. I miss you though, dearly.

With my return I give you guys Loss by Wodensthrone. This cold beast spans for well over an hour of some incredibly bleak, cold and atmospheric black metal. The presence of folk/pagan metal is ever present as well. This really is an enthralling listen, something about the sound is purely profound and beautiful in a dreary sort of way.

Grab if you like: Winterfylleth, Askival, Dragobrath

loss

Falconer - Armod (2011)

 

Armod (Link requested to be removed by DMCA)

Falconer - Among Beggars and Thieves (2008)

Fucking Falconer man. I have a thousand reasons as to why this is a power metal masterpiece. I will only list off a couple hundred of those reasons however. (for time and space purposes)

1) Stefan Weinerhall and Karsten Larsson of legendary Mithotyn are the masterminds behind it all.

2) Heavy on folk influences

3) Singer, Mattias Blad joined Falconer after never singing in a metal band before. In fact, he was enjoying a successful career as a stage singer.

4) Production is spot on. The drums sound beefy, guitars shred like a dinosaur, and the singing is not drowned out, nor dominant.

5) Best amalgamation of folk and power metal.

6) Lyrics are eloquently crafted and delivered.

7) Pale Light of Silver Moon is among my most played songs, along with Circle The Wagons by Darkthrone.

8) Download

Blackbird Raum

 

Blackbird Raum formed out of the nucleus of a squatter community living in abandoned buildings and greenbelt tree-houses in Santa Cruz, CA, in the early 2000's. Finding themselves living without electricity, they began to learn to play folk instruments from each other and other members of the traveling punk/folk culture. They all grew up playing in anarcho-punk, indie and ska bands and then, knowing next to nothing about traditional music, slowly gathered together the skills to create a new genre of music, based somewhere right in the middle of punk and folk. 

 

Refusing the retro cliches of many of their contemporaries, they write entirely original music (in both senses of the word) that is reflective of the world they live in: a realm of abusive police, ecological devastation, creeping ambiguity and vague fear, but also a strong sense of community and a deep love of a natural world constantly on the verge of collapse. They jump back and forth between extremely fast metal-influenced jug band dance numbers and quasi-medieval chant-and-drone while doing herky-jerky hardcore-influenced time signature gymnastics. (taken from website)

 

Swidden

 

Under The Starling Host

Munly & The Lupercalians - Petr & The Wulf (2010)

A concept album based on the story of "Petr & The Wolf" that teeters on sounding like a post-apocalyptic renaissance faire after dissolving 3 sheets of acid in a glass of bourbon. No, but really, these guys are like the Portal of Folk. This is not really my niche but I do know it works on a verse-chorus-verse structure. With that being said, each song continually develops into something diverse and memorable.

Eerie shit, I know. The atmosphere is woven with it's share of eccentrics but I'll be damned if a looming sense of disparity and eeriness isn't present. This may take a couple of spins for it to fully set in. It's good.

Scarewulf

Heidevolk - Walhalla Wacht (2008)

Strap on your bracers and fill up your steins because here we have some authentic Viking/Folk Metal from the Netherlands. You don't need to be wielding a Claymore to appreciate this shit though, this is just some good ol' Folk Metal that really doesn't sound quite like anything else I have heard...and this is a good thing.  A refreshing release in a genre that is at times guilty of being stagnant.

This album may be a "grower" for some however, but it is damn catchy and worthy of a spin here and there in your ever-growing music collection. The bread and butter of this album is that every song manages to stand out on its own and hoist its own identity in quite a original refreshing way. Enjoy this one.


Walhalla Wacht

Black Lotus - Harvest of Seasons (2008)

Harvest of Seasons is really one of those albums I struggle to find any flaws in, but it is very easy to point out the magnificence. There is an undeniable sense of Borknagar worship woven throughout the album. The use of clean and harsh vocals, the subtle folk elements and overall sound are reminiscent to the varying sound of Borknagar.

But fuck you if you think these guys are just copy-cats who can bring nothing new to the table, because you are simply wrong. Listen and revel in the sound of Canada's hidden gem. Draped in a dreary atmosphere and coated with the natural triumph of nature. What?


(I just want to go on record here, saying Borknagar's "Universal" is easily the best song that band has ever made.)

Harvest of Seasons

Beer Bear - Honey (2010)

Beer Bear. Fucking really? I'd like to think the naming of the band went something like this:

- "Alright, so we all like beer, let's just call the band Beer."
- "No, no. That just won't do, we need another element."
- "Okay, well what about Beer Bear? It sounds cool AND it is only one letter away from being Beer Beer!"
- "Well...it sounds like a Korpiklaani song, but let's do it!"

Regardless of how their name was decided, they play some decent Folk Metal. A variety of instruments make their way onto Honey, and it really drives most of the melody. At times the music sounds as deliciously cheesy as the band name/album cover. Lighten up, It's all in good fun.

Beer Worship

Les Bâtards du Nord - Levons La Corne (2010)

Six drunkards from Quebec, Canada unite to play some traditional Viking/Folk tunes that incorporate an impressive amount of instrumentation. This is the type of music you want to hear if you are drinking in a pub/tavern, well at least I do. Does anybody else give a fuck about heritage and culture anymore?

It sounds like a drunken medieval festival:

The Bastard ones of North

Whom The Moon Nightsong Sings (2010)

This here is a Neo-Folk compilation album.  with over 100 minutes of dreamy tempos and thickly textured atmosphere. The album fits perfectly with the current weather. (Snow Blizzard)

If I had a fireplace in my house, I would probably throw this shit on, grab a Tolkien book and a cup of tea, and perch my ass on the hearth and read until the CD was over. After that I would go back to my Impetuous Ritual CD, head downstairs to the cellar and finish dismembering a leprechaun I found hiding in my shed. Yeah...that sounds about right.

Any fucking way, don't know what neo-folk is? Hint: It's not Keanu Reeves "larping" in the woods. Here, ill show you:

Yeah, pretty damn rad right? 

Invoke

Falkenbach - Tiurida (2011)

Great Odin's raven, six years in the making finally comes Tiurida from Falkenbach!

Glory (Fixed Broken Link)

Cormorant - Metazoa (2009)

Look how beautiful that album cover is, I want to eat it. Consumption through the ears will have to suffice. And suffice it does, I bought this album for 6$ at my favorite used CD store in Toronto (Sonic Boom).

When I saw this CD there I definitely yelled something along the lines of "Fucking Right!" and offended some lady behind me combing through the Pop Rock section. Fuck it, if she knew anything she wouldn't be looking through Pop Rock.

Anyways, I have a point. And that point is, Metazoa is the tits! It is a little bit difficult to lump Cormorant into a genre, because they blend so many different styles and constantly change their formula. On Metal Archives they are listed as Progressive Folk/Black Metal, but one listen and you will hear many other influences, and you will love it. If not, your ears aren't working properly.


Consume
Part 1
Part 2

Drudkh - Songs of Grief and Solitude (2010)

Here is a Drudkh album I bought on a whim in the summertime. The album is all instrumental and eclectic in sound, its quite nice actually. Throw this album on, light some incense, read a book, drink some tea, stare out your window, contemplate existence, these are all suitable things to do in the company of this album.

There really is nothing bombastic about this at all, it's really calm and soothing and can be enjoyed by anyone. You know when you walk into one of those strange eclectic shops that sell shit like goblin tongues in a jar and it kinda reeks of an everglade? That is where this album belongs, in a shop like that. Listen:

 Escape

SpellBlast - Horns of Silence (2007)

I have always said, the cheesier the Power Metal, the better. Though, SpellBlast isn't the cheesiest of Power Metal bands, they still incorporate a good amount of cheese. With songs about goblins, unicorns, forests, Odin and of course magic, how can you fail. Well, you can't.

In short, Power Metal is a lot like Grill Cheese, the cheesier it is, the better! And apparently 68 people on youtube agree with me.

They throw in a lot of folkyness for good measure. Every time I listen to this album I want to punch a dragon in the face.

Glory

Neun Welten - Destrunken (2009)

Primarily Instrumental, this group from Germany paint a myriad of visuals with their latest release "Destrunken". The visuals conjure up dark, melancholic, nature-esque type imagery. Kinda sounds like a bunch of drunken ancient druids sat on some tree stumps in the woods and started jamming.

This makes for some great study, reading, tea drinking, contemplation, music. Fuck, its just good. Here let me show you:

 

download.