Trollfest – ‘Helluva’ (2017)
Rating: 9/10
Release 24 February 2017
Label: NoiseArt Records
Folk metal to me is the most diverse metal subgenre out there, it’s complete with its own genres within itself, and no written rules to regulate what is truly folk metal or not. Anything goes from the haunting and majestic. Epic and heavy to the downright absurd.
Trollfest is and has always been masters in the latter. While troll metal itself may not be as common a household name to some as it is me, Trollfest has been a main fixture of what folk/troll is all about for 12 years now. Their sound delivers everything their name implies. Their music is off the wall craziness that packs a heavy punch with all catchy zaniness of your childhood Saturday morning cartoons. Introducing a host of new protagonists Trollfest’s seventh studio album Helluva delivers their fullest sounding, most memorable songs to date. It’s an absolute party with a huge amount of guest instruments from brass bands and choirs to literally every folk metal staple you’d expect except bagpipes. It’s definitely the thickest sounding offering to date and after over a dozen plays I’m still finding new things to like about it.
From start to finish Helluva is massive and catchy. There’s a lot of pleasant surprises giving each song something special to take in. Trollfest has treated us with some of their most memorable and heavy songs to date. Out of fourteen tracks I’m hard put to pick a favorite. There are seriously no dull moments to be had. It begs to wonder if they’re going to have any of the guest artists on tour with them , that will be one hell of a show. (See what I did there?) All the little touches really make their mark on the tracks the brass section truly brings a big sound to every track and is something special I would love to see continue. There’s even some interesting female vocals on a couple of the tracks like Spelunker Sisters that seemed to fit the song and themes spot on. Trollfest has always brought an interesting take on folk metal , and Helluva is no exception it’s easily my favorite offering from these trolls and I’ll be playing it in my rotation for a long time to come.
Tracklist
- This Is Just the Intro
- Professor Otto
- Spelunking Sisters
- Gigantic Cave
- Steel Sarah
- Trollachen
- Hen of Hades
- Reiten mit ein Fisch
- Fräulein Helluva
- Kabaret
- La Grande Finale
- What a Good Idea
- Don Gnomo Vega
- Sputnik