Jaldaboath at Myspace

When I heard that Jaldaboath (real name James Fogarty) was recording a solo EP, I was anxious to hear the results. He was a founding member of one of my favorite metal bands, The Meads of Asphodel. However, when I actually got around to hearing this EP, it turned out to be a terrible pile of hoary “medieval” cliches.

Things actually start off fairly well, with a brief intro track leading into “Bring Me the Head of Metatron.” Folk metal has never been one of my favorite subgenres, but this opening track isn’t bad at all. However, things take a turn for the worse for the next three tracks, which use cheesy synthesized “medieval” instruments and have terrible lyrics that not even a Monty Python sketch would touch.  The final track, “Da Vinci’s Code,” isn’t quite as bad as what preceded it, but it’s too late to save the EP. What I loved about the Meads was that they were always going off in different directions; not all of their experiments worked, but they were always interesting. None of that experimentation is in evidence here; it’s just cliche after cliche after cliche.

Now, I don’t hate silliness in metal. I love many bands I find to be incredibly silly; I find the anti-Christian sentiments of many bands to be hilarious, and the macho posturing of bands like Manowar sends me into conniptions. But Hark the Herald is just played too straight for me to get any laughs out of it.  If it’s meant seriously, it’s terrible. If it’s meant as a joke, it’s not funny. This is one of the most disappointing releases of 2008 in my opinion.

Svartsot at myspace

Folk Metal is something you either love or hate. Apart the odd artist such as Agalloch or Hammers of Misfortune it’s usually exuberant, joyous and unashamedly cheesy. It’s an easy recipe to get hideously wrong, in a widdly keyboard smorgasbord and ye olde worlde theme park style charm offensive that certain acts end up just sounding smug and self-referentially ironic in one of those oh so ‘random’ ways that appeals to the same kids who thought the Lostprophets “megalulz” t shirt was the height of hilarity until their friend introduced them to metal hammer magazine last summer.

Svartsot, thank fuck are not one of those bands. There are no keyboards on the recording of ‘Ravnenes Saga’ their debut album, but instead an array of Flutes, Whistles and the Celtic percussion instrument the bodhran all played by at this point now ex member Stewart Lewis (who had to quit due to his wives ill health) which add to the air of authenticity that pervades this album. The guitar riffs have more of a folk influence than those of say Turisas or Korpikplaani, and the folk stylings of Svartsot’s home country of Denmark make a welcome change from the now textbook Finnish style. The cheese is kept at a welcome minimum with the searing death metal vocals and beautiful production job of Jacob Hansen who has worked with Yrkoon and Destruction in the past and is at this moment in time working with reunited Dutch Death Metal legends Pestilence, helping to create a non too serious but in no way at all goofy atmosphere.

With a lot of the similar bands in this genre, you feel they are trying too hard to create a party album, but ‘Ravnenes Saga’ is a rare all purpose folk metal album. You can party, headbang, or relax to this album and with not a comedy cover in sight to make one groan; this is certainly one of the finest folk metal releases of the past two years.

Alestorm at Myspace

If you haven’t heard the term “Battle Metal”, then you haven’t had the misfortune of reading Metal Hammer UK recently. After previously covering Oasis and the The Verve in the 90’s and in recent memory given My Chemical Romance and other emo bands front covers, said magazine has now decided it is “the defender of the faith of metal”. As part of this transformation, they have been promoting “battle metal” which seems to be name one can give to any bunch of keyboard wielding attention seekers in comedy costumes playing a piss poor combination of Power Metal, Folk Metal and AOR.

Alestorm are one of the only UK bands to come under this bizarre label and play something called “True Scottish Pirate Metal” that is unique though I’m not sure if it’s a good thing. All of the folk influences have been picked up second hand from mostly Finnish folk metal bands rather than drawing any influence from Scottish folk music or indeed actual folk music itself. Alestorm have two modes of operating. One as exhibited on the first few tracks of the album such as “Captain Morgan’s Revenge” and “Nancy the Tavern Wrench” is to play mid paced plodding power metal for the “randomness” crowd. These songs combine the Keyboard drenched cheese of Turisas with the faux-old world sound of the Dropkick Murphys with lyrics full of cheesy references to pirates clichés that even “Pirates of the Caribbean” would be ashamed of.

On “Death before the Mast” and “Terror on the High Seas” a different approach is taken. A fast paced punky take on traditional heavy metal is infused with some funky Janne Wirmann style synth theatrics. The high tempo and razor sharp riffs get the heart racing and on these songs the band stays the right side of cheesiness. When they try and combine this approach with the more generic Turisas-esque approach that was mentioned in the last paragraph it just doesn’t gel at all. An example of this, “Set Sail and Conquer” proves this with any momentum and excitement being drowned out in a thousand musical and lyrical clichés. It’s no surprise that the two tracks stand above the rest of the offering on this album were the most lyrically subdued.

For every “funny if you are 16 years old” line such as “I want more wrenches/more wrenches and mead” there are 4 or 5 clearly audible cringeworthy ones that not even the biggest fan of “randomness” can stomach. The most embarrassing moment is their awful power metal cover of the Scottish nationalist ditty “Flower of Scotland” which is terrible beyond words. Alestorm have the capability of being more than just another gimmick band for teenage “random metal LOL” fans, but on this album at least, there are too many lumbering cliché fests to see whether they can weather the storm when this type of metal eventually becomes unpopular.

Primordial at myspace

Primordial cut their own path through the overgrown wasteland that is pagan metal that much is certain. Coming from the Dublin Black Metal scene in the late 90’s they have created their own unique take on a genre that is sadly succumbing to being a travelling freakshow for the Trivium generation. Where certain unnamed “pagan” acts like to frolic with comedy costumes and harebrained peons to “oh so metal” clichés older than the gods themselves, Primordial set out a deadly serious yet earnest and passionate direction for the genre to migrate towards.

There are no clichés on “to the nameless dead” and there is nothing (apart from the other Primordial albums) like this in metal but yet is also seems so straightforward and seemingly obvious now that someone has actually written an album in this style. Yes, it is true that Primordial’s roots can be found in Bathory’s Viking period, the best heavy metal albums of the 80’s and even the dreaded O word, but this is something that evolved beyond those past moment yet keeps in touch with the timeless spirit of the glory days of metal from the 70’s to the 90’s.

All the songs on this album run along at an atmospheric and foreboding mid-pace that allows for a sense of tension that like all good catharsis is in a definition a chore, but a glorious one that you will undertake time and time again. Each song is underpinned by a powerful melody that is melancholy, wistful, melodramatic and brimming with pride all at the same time without being pompous, hackneyed or dreary. Each riff and lead builds upon the central melody of the song and constructs a musical journey that both haunts you remorsefully, and stirs up dormant longings for a lawless yet passionate Europe that we will never fully understand.

Alan Nemtheanga’s unique vocal style also impacts positively upon the overall quality of this album. His clean vocals that are somehow reminiscent of Quorthon and Ian Astbury at the same time are immensely impressive in both their range, and Nemtheanga’s rendering of the passionate feelings that are found in his lyrics. Never has there been a vocalist in metal who could so persuade you to his point of view with a simple inflection or even just a few soaring notes. His Black Metal style rasp occasionally comes into play, and the interplay between his two styles is a joy to behold.

There’s only one word you can use to sum up Primordial; Passionate. This is metal that truly believes in the message behind the music, and has such conviction it can easily convince most learned metal connoisseur’s of that message too.