EREB ALTOR - Halsingemorker review

 

EREB ALTOR - Halsingemorker

Hammerheart Records

I got into Sweden's EREB ALTOR a few years back simply because 3/4's of the band members were in the amazing Doom Metal band ISOLE. Since I am a huge fan of ISOLE I had to check this act out. My introduction was their 2022 full length Vargtimman. Obviously I was late to the party since EREB ALTOR started out in 2003 but their first full length, By Honour, came out in 2008. 

EREB ALTOR's whole thing or design is to be epic sounding Viking Metal that's a continuation from where Quorthon of BATHORY left off after his passing in 2004. At least that's what some people like to say. I did think it on their last album a bit but after hearing this one I'm not part of that block. 

This EREB ALTOR's tenth full length is probably the best sounding modern developed style of Viking Metal. This is epic as in I want to run out on my back deck in the midst of a storm holding my battle axes and yell hails to Odin. For years fans have accepted the corny shit, myself included. But on here EREB ALTOR really nail the whole style in a melodic way. 

The riffs are decent but the added keyboards add to the atmosphere which, along with the amazing lead and background vocals, culminates into some pure classic sounds. I mean there's almost a Folk Metal element in a few cuts. In the end it's a beautiful piece of work. I can't wait for the weather to be nice so I can blast this on the outdoor speakers while I'm working in the yard.   

https://www.hammerheart.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://erebaltorhhr.bandcamp.com/album/h-lsingem-rker

TYR - Battle Ballads review

 

TYR - Battle Ballads

Metal Blade Records

OK bias alert, I'm a huge fan of TYR. I first got into em in 2006 with their Ragnarok full length. From that point onward I was buying older releases while keeping up with their new ones. I saw em twice over a decade ago when the whole Pagan Metal thing was a trend as far as tours go. I stood around at one show and talked with Heri Joensen for close to an hour. We had an amazing conversation which I promised was not an interview. 

Fast forward a few years and it was in the second decade of the 2000s where TYR shed the cliche Viking Metal tag and went full blown amazing. Some people wanna call it Power Metal while others say Progressive Folk. All I know is when I listened to 2019's Hel full length the cliche stuff was far over. Heri Joensen was always pushing the band to this standard and it works. 

So here we have Battle Ballads the band's 9th full length. To me as a fan this is the epitome of standing in Valhala. Yes it's Power Metal out the wazoo with a battle ready hammer wielding warrior ready to fight for the cause. The guitar work on here is exceptional as well as the vocals. The song structures on a couple of tunes are folksy as hell and headbanging. 

I have to say TYR's live album, A Night at the Nordic House, from 2022 has been one of my fave releases from them as in I only listen to that one for a while. But this new one is a magnum opus. But Battle Ballads goes beyond what they've done before as being a magnificent piece of work incorporating the folk, the Viking influenced ballads and the aggressive nature. They've reached their mountain top.   

https://www.metalblade.com/us/

LISTEN HERE:

https://tyrband.bandcamp.com/album/battle-ballads

CROM – The Era Of Darkness review

 

CROM – The Era Of Darkness

From the Vaults

If you're expecting something influenced by the Conan saga (aka: comics and movies) you're not gonna get it here. CROM, who hail from Germany, are a epic heavy metal act. Then again you could call em power metal with that viking saga influence. When this came in for review I pushed play and listened to it five times in a row while I was doing other stuff. Ah yeah it's that good.

This is the first release I've heard from CROM. The band started out as a one man act a while back in 2000. The one man is Crom aka: Walter Grosse. The first full length, Vengeance, came out in 2008. This is the fourth full length and from what I've read CROM is an actual band now. Be that as it may when I heard the first cut of this album, "Into the Glory Land" I was hooked. 

On this album CROM comes across musically as TYR meets Nordland era BATHORY. I mean the vocals are clean, powerful and epic as fuck. The song structures are powerful and yet melodic. The guitar solos come in like lighting bolts. I mean everything about this album is damm good. Songs like "Heart of the Lion", "The Era of Darkness" and "Together We Ride" (aka: the front end of the album) are amazing. I mean you'll want to grab up your sword and shield because it's time for battle with your comrades on your side. 

The second half of the release is good but not as strong as the first end. I like the melodic epic ballad style of "In Your Eyes" as well as "Bridge to Paradise". "Riding into the Sun" is good but is a repeat of some songs on the first half. But hey all in all The Era Of Darkness is like the dark horse pick for greatness in 2023. If you're a searcher for great music or just lucky to have something dropped into your lap (like me) then you'll like this one a lot.

https://fromthevaults.dk/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/1005417

OR HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMHENn73Fbw

AMON AMARTH - The Great Heathen Army review

 

AMON AMARTH - The Great Heathen Army

Metal Blade Records

This is album number twelve for everyone's favorite Swedish viking metal band. Yeah I bet Quorthon is spinning in his grave on that one. But hey I became an AMON AMARTH fan years ago. My first album by them was With Oden on Our Side from 2006. For me that's their best album in my not so humble opinion. I finally did get to see em on their 2009 US tour. 

Now over the years I've picked up the releases from their early years as well as every new one. But I have to say from 2008's Twilight of the Thunder God to this release here this band has fell into a repetitive formula mode. Think about AC/DC or MOTORHEAD as far as a recognizable sound. That's AMON AMARTH these days. What's funny is that Twilight of the Thunder God is the album that broke them into the mainstream of metal. I still think that album was a generic over produced piece of wax worthy of mainstream losers. 

So since then every one of their releases has the basics. You've got Johan Hegg's roar like death growl vocals matched up with the classic sound of Swedish melodic death metal. And of course the viking themes which after thirty years the band hasn't run out of Norse mythology song ideas, yet. And in the end you get a bunch of releases with two or three cool songs with the rest being boring crap. 

So with The Great Heathen Army you've got some decent cuts like opener "Get in the Ring" which is classic Swede Melo-Deth with a damm good guitar solo. It's a good pounding tune. "Saxons and Vikings" is actually a crap song musically. But you've got three people from SAXON performing on it. We're talking about Biff Byford doing split vocals with Johan Hegg plus guitar soloing by Doug Scarratt and Paul Quinn. 

I also like "Heidrun" with it's folk metal groove style. Hey pass the mead I think I'm Baldur. And that's about it for me. Like I said earlier I'm a fan and always hope for the best. But as for now, again, their best is behind them. 

https://www.metalblade.com/us/

LISTEN HERE:

https://amonamarth.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-heathen-army

TROLLWAR - Oath of The Storm review

TROLLWAR - Oath of The Storm

Self Released




To my Canadian readership I have a question. Are there any trolls in Quebec? Now lets be nice because I know some of you are separatists. And lets not be mean to the tourists from down here in the states who pop over the border to buy a few things. I'm semi-serious here (no I'm not). Oh well chances are I'll never get a straight answer on whether or not trolls, a creature of myth, actually reside in Quebec. But they have a band who resides in Quebec who have it in their name.


TROLLWAR, I'm sad to say this but you're a decade late. The great Pagan Metal explosion ended in 2010. I've got a whole shelf of CD releases from those days. Now unless you feel like leading the next vanguard of a revival well you definitely have what it takes. 


On this the band's second full length they capture the best aspects of melding melodic death metal with folk structures. Their use of accordion and keyboards works well in two fold. The keys give off a symphonic presence while the accordion provides melody. Their song structures are full on majestic with typical yet aggressive riffage. And of course the caustic warrior vocals make it a winner. TROLLWAR easily stand toe to toe with past greats of this very special metal genre.



https://trollwar.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Trollwar

GWYDION - Thirteen review

GWYDION - Thirteen

Ultraje



Viking metal from Portugal, OK? Yeah well I've always admitted my being a fan of the whole viking / battle metal genre. I know it gets mocked from time to time but my answer to the naysayers is simple, Go Fuck Yourselves. Viking metal is cool as fuck and these these Portuguese warriors do a killer job on this release.


GWYDION started out back in the mid 90s but didn't hit pay-dirt until 2008 with their first full length Ynys Mon. Since then they've been peppering fans with a few more full lengths, this being their fourth overall. And what's cool about this one is that it's a viking themed release with so much fuckin metal genre styles in your face. It's not Nordic historian melodic death metal although there's some melodic death metal here. There's a lot more going on.


GWYDION likes to add in plenty of folk structures as well as symphonic black metal touches. Add to that their songs are not "Hey we're Vikings, listen to us sing about fuckin shit up." No they're pushing odes to the past with stories and history. Most of the time the vocals are sung in a heavy death metal style but then they're sung clean like what TYR does.


All in all this is an amazing release. There's an interesting character about it which leads the listener onward since there really is no repetition as far as song structure. It's basically one piece of music that's exciting like a viking tale. This is why I love this genre of music and GWYDION are damm great at it. HAILS!


http://www.gwydion.org/

https://ultraje.pt/tag/ulterium-records/

FORGE - Heimdall review

FORGE - Heimdall

Self Released

I don't receive as much Viking themed metal as I did years ago. Obviously the fad has died back and only a few of the original long standing bands are still around. But low and behold we have FORGE from Switzerland who take things to the hilt. Now when I think of Switzerland I am not thinking of vikings. Actually I'm thinking of banking. By the way here's a band photo below. That guy on the bottom left looks like the dude who prepared my taxes last year. 

Now with that said FORGE are actually damm good at the whole viking metal thing. First off they're not pushing the total melodic death metal sound meets Asgard type of shtick. FORGE have a base firmly planted in traditional folk meets metal and have a symphonic touch that's not overwhelming. Their metal portions are exceptional. To hear a band in this genre at this stage of time do so well at not being cliche is a plus to me. 

The violin playing as a full on instrument that takes a song to heights is where I was like, Yeah! So you've got full frontal violin playing meets extremely guttural vocals and a melodic death metal template. But who's doing the keyboards? Also why are the vocals so brutal DM style? Not at all like traditional viking metal by the way. That really failed on my expectation. Look you've got the music pure, the song structure exciting and then you muck it up on the vocals. Oh well, great music with a different vocal style. 

https://forge-metal.bandcamp.com/album/heimdall

https://www.facebook.com/forgemetal

YGGDRASSIL - All Shall Burn review

YGGDRASSIL - All Shall Burn

Art Gates Records





Viking Metal from Spain??? Yeah well maybe twenty years ago there would be an issue but I heard Viking Metal from South America years ago so hey who cares right. Also these Spaniards lean more to the death metal side of the whole Viking / Battle Metal genre. This is not UNLEASHED style DM by the way. It's more in the melodic vein. Think more on the lines of ENSIFERUM or AMON AMARTH with tapas.

On the high side YGGDRASSIL are pretty good at doing the whole wannabe AMON AMARTH thing down to a mead's drop. First off the vocal growl by David López is fantastic. Musically the deathly melodies are pitch perfect which is evident on the title track as well as "End Of Cycle" and the fist rising "Battle In The Storm", which is my favorite track on here. On the low side the comparisons to AMON AMARTH, in the song structures, is so evident that even a few brutal death metal touches don't change much. 

In the long run no they are not a step away from Valhalla. Allow their vocalist to scream more and sing in a gruff voice. Give the guitarists some room to solo to the point of killing. The rhythm section is fine. Your future is secure.


http://www.artgatesrecords.com/

https://yggdrassil.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/YggdrassilDeathViking/