Reviews
2006-10-02
Sweden's Månegarm have been producing some high quality Viking/folk metal for more than ten years, this new offering shows the band delving deep into their Swedish folk roots, doing acoustic numbers that are not metallic in nature, as the rest of the band's output, but rather purely folk numbers, with acoustic guitars, percussion, a fiddle, and female vocals intertwined with the male ones.
The band certainly knows what's it doing, there's a definite air of quality here, with nature sounds and atmospheric tunes abound. The energetic opener "Himmelsfursten" is dark and ominous, with some growled vocals thrown in at the end, "Utfard" is a much more up-tempo cut. While "Alvatrans" is slower, calculated and full of ambiance.
"Doden" is somewhat more sophisticated that most cuts, several interesting vocal lines, several rhythm changes, this is probably the strongest track here.
This may not sit in well with metal fans that want their folk metal heavy and aggressive, A-la
Amon Amarth, for that they should wait for Månegarm's next metallic release, but the strength and uniqueness of this release is unquestionable.
For a taste of Swedish forests and snow, there's no going wrong with this EP.
Alon Miasnikov
