So many bands, and so little time, so my usual saying of “How has this band passed my radar?” certainly applies to the very impressive and very metal Lancaster-based Wytch Hazel who have not just released but also unleashed their fourth studio album ‘IV: Sacrament’ via Bad Omen Records that …
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It’s always a joy to review self proclaimed “UK Goth Folk N Rollers” Cadence Noir. Their releases may be as rare as rocking horse shit but they always come up smelling of roses, point proven by their garden of delights that is the just released EP Return Of The Electric …
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Formed in 2012, the battle-hardened folk-metal warriors of East Anglia have become a force to be reckoned with on the UK metal circuit, sharing stages with the likes of Evil Scarecrow, Whispered, Manegarm and Grimner, and received praise for their diverse sound and powerful live show. The group have now released …
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The Norse Wind is Rising: HRH Vikings Festival II Announces Their Initial Shield Wall. The Second Coming is upon us: All hail HRH Vikings II. HRH – Europe’s leading residential provider – debuted HRH Vikings last weekend: a stage-storming, genre-crossing, alloy of five – count ’em: FIVE! – forms of …
Read More »Folky acoustic guitar and fiddle introduce listeners to the eponymous 2015 release by Sweden’s metallic and mighty Manegarm. A definite change of pace from 2013’s Legions of the North, featuring many more quiet, acoustic, moody moments, the new disc brings a welcome dynamic back into metal. As with Manegarm’s previous …
Read More »There are numerous names for the bands that play troll metal, all sorts of fictional monster metal… Nekrogoblikon perhaps could go on the same shelf – melodic and truly fun goblin metal, which is usually described as melodic death metal/folk metal. The music of the Nekrogoblikon further will be named …
Read More »Due for release on 4th May ‘Noita’ is the ninth studio album from Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani. With their previous album ‘Manala’ having been release in 2012, this has indeed been a long wait. So, the questions remains…has the wait been worth it? If you are a fan of …
Read More »A band composed of collaborative writers, excellent arrangers, and fantastic musicians, titan Finnish folk metal band Ensiferum recently treated the world to it’s latest release, One Man Army. In 2015, the band celebrated 20 years together, partially with the release of One Man Army, their critically-acclaimed release for Metal Blade …
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Finnish melodic folk-death metal band Ensiferum has released their sixth studio album through Metal Blade Records, titled One Man Army. The band, which takes it’s name from a Latin word translating to “Sword bearing,” has included 15 aggressive tracks, counting the four bonus tracks, for eager fan consumption. Overall, One Man …
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Swedish metallers Falconer have returned with 2014’s full-length disc, Black Moon Rising. This is the band’s eighth studio effort, a nice blend of melodic, power, and folk metal elements. This 11-track disc is packed with classic heavy metal, power metal, and folk metal in spades. Top-tier musicianship only helps to …
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If there’s one band that conjures up the image of “folk metal”, it’s Helsinki, Finland natives and genre pillars Finntroll. Finntroll has a new release out: Natten Med De Levande Finntroll, a toothy 19-tune live album showcasing the band in full glory, performing at Amsterdam’s prestigious Melkweg Concert Hall on …
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....so if you’re in need of a classic sounding metal album that evokes images of ‘olde worlde’ battles and chivalrous knights, this delivers in bucketloads.
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While many of their fellow countrymen have sought to adapt traditional Irish mythologies to a more blackened style of metal, Mael Mórdha have deliberately crafted a sound which is very much rooted in the Celtic folk ethic, which gives their approach to the doomier end of the spectrum a more …
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Faroe Islanders Týr may find themselves, by the fate of geography, isolated on the northern outskirts of Scandinavia but this, their seventh album, proves once again that they are very much at the centre of the particularly geocentric folkloric mythos which has helped this particular sub genre very much re-establish itself …
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Equilibrium‘s Waldschrein is an interesting twist on the folk or pagan metal subgenre. This five-song EP, released in 2013, runs the gamut from entertaining folk metal, to an epic movie soundtrack type tune. This Bavarian band’s rapid ‘riff factory’ idea shifts tend to be jarring or choppy – in the …
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Once upon a time I was roaming through Youtube and I stumbled upon Orphaned Land with their song “Sapari” from the album “The Never Ending Way of Orwarrior, 2010”. I loved it and put it on repeat and listened it 30 more times in a row. I was always fond …
Read More »When Danish folk-metallers Huldre released their debut album, ‘Intet Menneskebarn’, at the tail end of 2012, they immediately drew comparisons with the likes of Eluvetie, Korpiklaani and Leaves’ Eyes, among others – especially for their emphasis on the ‘folk’ rather than the metal side of their sound, through the use …
Read More »Folk metal, pagan metal, call it what you will, has an unnerving penchant for veering, inexplicably and unexpectedly, from one extreme to the other – and, most notably, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Unfortunately, Munich-based sextet Knaat fall somewhere ‘twixt and between – but, at the same time, manage …
Read More »Canadian folk metal band Scythia released their latest EP “For the bear” at the end of September. The stated aim of the EP is to give the EP the sound the band have live, so they’ve opted not to use any guest musicians or to use post-production sound effects and …
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PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal