Heidevolk – ‘Batavi’ (2012)
Rating: 8/10
Release: 2 March 2012
Label: Napalm Records
“Dwars door de stromen
Moordend voor Rome
Dood uit het oosten,
Wapenbroeders!”
This piece of the lyrics above can only mean one thing! The new record of Heidevolk is released! This time, these men from Gelderland don’t bring an ordinary release. No, this time, they’ve chosen to present us a concept-album. This album is focused around the ‘Batavians’, a Germanic tribe. The album tells the tales about their beginning, until the end; the revolt against Rome
Enough about the story of the album, in the end, all that matters is the music! What immediately strikes is that this album is a lot heavier than the previous albums. The drums are pounding, and the guitar-riffs sound darker than ever before. However, what stays the same are the dual-singing between Joris and Mark, a proved concept that results in the typical ‘Heidevolk-sound’.
While the pace of the music itself is a bit higher than before, the pace of the vocals are clearly lower; Heidevolk uses more and more long pace vocal lines. Something I think is one of the slightly negative aspects of this album, since I prefer rapidly sung lyrics in songs like ‘Het wilde heer’ and ‘Walhalla wacht’.
Heidevolk releases with this record a more than decent one. The conceptual, something new for Heidevolk, works really well. The lyrics are interesting and each song tells a tale, forming another, greater story altogether. The music is heavier, something that feels natural and sounds great. The only negative aspect I can name is the slowly sung lyrics. Nonetheless a great album!
Tracklist
- Een Nieuw Begin 3:57
- De Toekomst Lonkt 4:26
- Het Verbond Met Rome 5:08
- Wapenbroeders 4:00
- In Het Woud Gezworen 6:39
- Veleda 2:30
- Als De Dood Weer Naar Ons Lacht 3:51
- Einde Der Zege 4:06
- Vrijgevochten 5:08