Rating: 8.5/10
Release: 23 November 2023
Label: Independent

Celtibeerian’s latest effort “Nertos” comes in the wake of a single released a year back, entitled “Rise”. What is noteworthy here, is their single was not a teaser for this album, it was a message the band had they wanted to convey, and was released on its own, not for hype, but because the band that wrote it had something that they felt they needed to say. For those unfamiliar with Celtic Folk Metallers Celtibeerian, let that standalone single serve as an introduction for this band and what they’re about.

Values of the band aside, “Nertos” has like many of Celtibeerian’s earlier releases, a party atmosphere in dispersed with pagan folklore comprising its lyrical subject matter, however this album stands aside from its predecessors by virtue of its musical quality. While their debut album was heavy on the folk elements with shorter tracks, their second was heavier on the metal influences, and their previous full-length mixed the approach of the former two albums from song to song, “Nertos” is built on a solid slab of abrasive and furious Metal. There are, as usual, quieter moments, but most of the backbone of the songs on offer here is Celtibeerian at their most dangerous. Special shout out among all the songs in Folk Metal that shout-out specific drinks goes to “Old no7” here, which celebrates Jack Daniels, which finally got its own commemorative song.

There is one unfortunate weak point on this album, the “Metal” element of their sound veers closer to some of Eluveitie’s recent forays into Metalcore than it does the Korpiklaani influences on older albums, or the Mötorhead laden undertones of their imagery and sound present on this album. The heavier approach is a welcome one, especially as some of the most well-known bands associated with Folk Metal play music that doesn’t quite the deliver the gut punch and snarling charm “Nertos” has to offer. I would highly recommend “Nertos” as an introductory album to Folk Metal for fans of other Metal genres, as it shows perfectly how well and organically Metal can be blended together in a way that has been absent in the newer releases of the old guard for some time.

Tracklist

1. Intro: Nertos Katous 01:57
2. Spread the Fire 03:58
3. Beerdrinkers On Duty 03:19
4. Face the Beast 04:07
5. The End of the Sun 03:27
6. Stand and Breathe 04:28
7. Old nº7 04:25
8. The Last Witch 05:03
9. Swallow the Moon 03:43
10. Where the Beer Is 03:35
11. Outro: Quebrantahuesos 04:04