Rating: 7/10 Release: 8 Septerber 2023 Label: AOP Records Finsterforst is a six-member German folk metal band, and Jenseits (“Beyond”) is their eighth album and 3rd EP. There are two guest musicians who brought their voices and instruments into the booth, too. All-in-all, it’s a strange little beast: an EP-length … Continue reading →
Rating: 9/10 Release: 16 August 2023 Label: Independent Lombolo is a Swedish folk metal trio and “Här och Där” (“Here and There” but way more fun to say) is their second full-length album. ‘Trio’ is a bit misleading because there are guest appearances from Anchorsmashed, Rietas, and Amadeus Kamsvåg. Some … Continue reading →
Rating: 8.5/10 Release: 1 July 2023 Label: Independent Yarga is a young folk pagan metal band that combines elements of popular Russian folklore and a heavy, powerful sound. With their songs, the band brings the forgotten epoch in the life of Ancient Russia, using both historical facts and folk tales … Continue reading →
Rating: 6.5/10 Release: 6 June 2023 Label: Independent Amongst all Slavic folk/pagan metal bands worth being included in the genre’s history, the name Znich cannot be forgotten. It is 27 years they’ve been active in the scene, with 5 full-lengths, a bunch of EPs and solos and gigs amongst Belarus … Continue reading →
Rating: 8/10 Release: 4 August 2023 Label:Independent Adarvirog is a huge, eight-piece Belarusian dark folk metal band. I never get tired of Eastern Europe’s folk metal contributions, and Adarvirog’s second album exceeds expectations. Čornaje Sonca (“Blacker than the Sun”) follows closely in form to 2017’s Край паданняў (“Edge of Traditions”). … Continue reading →
Rating: 9/10 Release: 2 June 2023 Label: Independent This review took me longer than I expected for multiple reasons. Firstly because it’s Trollwald and at times I still can’t believe to have this very very long-awaited album in front of me. Secondly, the sound of this album is very different … Continue reading →
Rating: 9.5/10 Release: 14 April 2023 Label: Dangus The Lithuanian band Ūkanose, born in 2012, released after a long time an album that collected nine songs that the band often performed live, but that had never been put on a record. The concept of the band was born after a … Continue reading →
Rating: 8.5/10 Release: 10 August 2023 Label: Earth and Sky Productions The one-man band from Matera Bloodshed Valhalla of the multi-instrumentalist Drakhen is back with the sixth full-length “Glory to the Sacred Land”, released two years after the previous “Second Chapter”. Even in this full-length the sound is epic and … Continue reading →
Rating: 8.5/10 Release: 30 June 2023 Label: Better Noise Music The Mongolian band The Hu, after the great success of “Rumble of The Thunder”, released via Better Noise Records “Rumble of The Thunder: Deluxe Edition”. This new version there are seven new tracks divided into four acoustic versions and three … Continue reading →
Rating: 9/10 Release: 17 March 2023 Label: Via Nocturna Diaboł Boruta– typically a five-piece metal band from Poland named for the Devil Boruta, a character from Polish mythology known for corrupting noblemen– have forgotten their metal gear on the way to the recording studio, and, instead, met up with some … Continue reading →
