Svartby - "Scum from Underwater" EP 2010

SVARTBY - "Scum from Underwater" (EP 2010)
Folk Metal - Russia
Available for Free Download
http://www.myspace.com/skogenssvartby

Svartby is a bunch of merry fellows from Sankt Petersburg, Russia, who got together in 2004 and since then they are making something they like to call "svartcore", a combination of Technical Melodic Black Death Metal (Bodom - like) with Folk and Fantasy elements. Their music is both funny / entertaining, and very skillful, a great display of instrumental knowledge. The keyboard / synth part is a big part in Svartby's music, it creates a Fantasy like world and that's what you can ask more in a band like that. Too bad that this 3 tracks EP is only 7 minutes long, you can't stop from asking more. The tracks differ one from another, if the first tracks is a fast and happy Melodic Black Death with accordion effects, the second is a keyboard intermezzo that reminded me of the Italian Evol's keyboard tracks, and the third track is also fast, merry Black Death with xylophone and horn effects plus some futurist synths sounds that create a perfect SciFi Fantasy atmosphere. Again I must say too bad it lasts for only 7 minutes, this band is great.

Kaan

Celtachor - "In the Halls of our Ancient Fathers" Full-length CD 2010

CELTACHOR - "In the Halls of our Ancient Fathers" (Full-length CD 2010)

Celtic Folk Black Metal - Ireland

Available for Free Download

http://www.myspace.com/celtachor

     I'm so glad I discovered this band, who says Myspace is a waste of time? :) So yes, I discovered Celtachor surfing on Myspace and their music instantly hit me. I'll present below what this band is all about, but first let's see who they are.

     Celtachor was formed in 2007 in Dublin, Ireland as a quartet I guess. They have changed founding bassist and drummer and the line-up at the moment is: Stiofan (vocals, whistles), Dithi (guitars), Anais (drums) and Emile (bass). After a demo, "Signs of War", released in 2008, it seems the band felt it's time to release its debut full-length. 7 tracks, 35 minutes, very aggressive Folk-influenced music, that would be the short presentation on "In the Halls of our Ancient Fathers" but to go more in depth I could add: barbaric hoarse vocals, Thrashy Black Metal guitar riffs, powerful, very busy bass lines, metallic, well executed pounding drums and last but not least a fabulous medieval whistle playing handled by Stiofan. As he is the vocalist as well and his vocal lines are pretty much everywhere, the whistle parts are few but oh so effective and catchy, it makes you want for more and more so it's the perfect tease in Celtachor's music. I have mentioned Thrash and Black before and yes, the main part of Celtachor is based on barbaric, aggressive Thrash and Black Metal (old-school) roots, but it has its epic parts as well (mostly guitar created). I'm only sorry I don't have the lyrics, I guess they are interesting as well. 

     The bad parts of this album, few indeed, would be that sometimes the music tends to become very busy and hard to follow and gives the impression of primitive craft (the guitar almost looses pace), and also the sound of this album is very raw, and that could be a minus for the ones used with the nowadays Pagan Folk (shiny and rich) bands, or a major plus for the ones nostalgic for old-school metal. Decide for yourselves by downloading this album for free (the band decided to share it with everyone for free but they also sell hard copies). For me Celtachor is a major win for the scene...

Kaan

Sjuk - "Wolf is Coming" Demo 2009

SJUK - "Wolf is Coming" (Demo 2009)

Folk Thrash Death Metal - France

Available for Free Download

http://www.myspace.com/sjukmusik

     The term "sjuk" comes from Swedish and means "ill", and strange enough Sjuk is not a Swedish band, but it comes from France. Well, the Scandinavian influence is overall nowadays so noone can blame them for choosing this orientation. 

     From what I could gather grom the net it seems Sjuk was formed in 2007 as a one-man project but it became a full line-up (quartet) band in 2009 and now the guys behind this name are: Sjuk (founder), Ulwarg, Willamatainen and Luonnonvaraisten. "Wolf is Coming" is their first offering, a 4 tracks demo that presents us a band who's strongly influenced by both the Thrash Death Metal scene and the Folk Metal movement. I would say their mix inhere is quite interesting but only gives us a good hint on how they would like their band to sound. I hope this is not their actual sound as it is synthetic to the bone, I couldn't even say which parts are computer generated and which ones are made on real instruments... Anyway, the atmosphere is there, their compositions are melodic and aggressive at the same time and they even give the listener that epic, warrior-like feeling, but the sound ruins it all. It starts with an instrumental melodic instrumental intro on which the only things I like are some guitar leads and the groove-filled drum rhythms. The second track introduces the traditional instruments as accordion, bagpipe or flute (but again I don't know if they are real instruments or computer generated), and also some very good, comprehensive enough vocals that if polished a bit could be top-notch. The third track has an awful sounding keyboard (to read amatourish sounding), but the guitar work is very good, Thrash / Death low tuned guitar riffs, and also the drums are reaching their groovies point on this release. "Wolf is Coming" is ended by the most brutal track on it that, strange enough (again), starts up with the most calm part on this demo.

     After some listens I could say I'm not annoied by Sjuk's music and I'm waiting for them to record and release their debut album this year (or at least that's hwta they say on their website). The potential is there, they only need to change instruments.

Kaan

Woodscream - "Pentadrama" EP 2010

WOODSCREAM - Pentadrama (EP 2010)

Folk Metal - Russia

http://www.myspace.com/woodscream

     Saint-Petersburg Folk metal band Woodscream is a pretty young band I think, both for the members' age and for band's activity. They have released this year 1 Single, "Svartedauen" and this "Pentadrama" as their debut EP. The band is composed by 3 guys and 2 girls, and in this case, as you can easily guess it, they are a female fronted, the main vocals being clear female (Russian Folk oriented) vox. Valentina Tsyganova is the one singing, but apart she has a good voice, she also does the backing vocals, the flutes and whistles parts and takes care of the percussions also, so we have a poli-instrumentist here, and a quite good one I might add. The other girl in the band, Anastasia Guseva, plays the violin and her touch is very important in Woodscream's music, basically that's the main Folkish element inhere. Alexander Klimov plays the guitars and from time to time he adds his hoarse vocals, a very good addition. His guitar playing is mostly straight forward metal style, but he also uses acoustic guitar elements. The other two guys in the band, Ivan Budkin on bass and Pavel Malyshev on drums seem like they are a bit marginalized, but in fact they are the backbone of this band, the Metal scaffold on which everything else is build. 

     After this band introduction I should also speak about this debut EP that contains 5 tracks and totalize about 17 minutes. It's a good material to meet the band and make your mind on them. I would normally name this a demo, but it has a crystal clear sound and production so an EP isn't a bad label after all. The compositions are good but not outstanding, it's an easy listening but unfortunately you won't remain with much afterwards. Having in mind that this is a very young band the situation changes and I can clearly say that if they keep working on their compositions we might have a very good band in Woodscream in the near future. And also they might add more of those keyboard touches that are present a few times on Pentadrama, at least I would very much like that. On this release they seem to try too many things and at the end nothing is completely done, but I'm sure time will make them settle on their own path.

Kaan

Troll Bends Fir - "Oktoberfest" EP 2010

TROLL BENDS FIR - "Oktoberfest" (EP 2010)

Folk Metal - Russia
http://www.myspace.com/trollbendsfirofficial

     Troll Bends Fir is a Russian band that I would somehow compare with Finntroll, and in fact they also call their style "Beer Folk" or "Folk-Rock-Humppa-Metal", "Humppa" being the main influence on Fintroll's music as well, but the similarities stop to a point where I can clearly say I like TBF much more than Finntroll, for some reason I cannot fully "digest" the Finnish' music.
     TBF is not a new name on the Russian Folk / Pagan Metal scene, they actually have 4 full-lenght albums out so far. "Oktoberfest" (I would have named it "Okto-beer-fest") is a 5 tracks EP that keeps the same path as the previous one. I have only had thae chance to listen to their 2009 album, but I can only remember it was composed on the same range as this EP is: alert-rhythmed music with a good dose of irony and a funny / friendly atmosphere surrounding it, a perfect soundtrack for any beer fest. The violin (or fiddle as they name it) and Irish whistle are present everywhere and are as important in TBF's music as the other instruments are. And that's the best part in TBF, you cannot decide on a sole instrument and say that's the main element in their music, each instrument and voice has its own role and part inhere. I really like how the two vocalists, Troll (barbaric chants, clear vocals, hoarse vocals) and Jetra (female vocals - on the second track she reminds me an awful lot of Bellarussian band Znich from a decade ago), are completing each other and I can clearly say they both have talent and delicious vox.
     Now the bad part in TBF's music: I don't know why, but for the most part of their music, although displaying good instrumental skills, I feel like something's missing from their music and all their music is just the prelude to the real thing, it's like I'm always expecting something to happen. Anyway, this would be the only point in TBF that doesn't convince me entirely, but the rest is like a paint of cold beer, absolutely delicious.
     So far TBF have only used Russian language for their lyrics, I'm curious to see if they will use English too sometime in the near future.

Kaan

Wunjo - "Eternal Brotherhood" Demo 2010

WUNJO - "Eternal Brotherhood" (Demo 2010)

Pagan Black Metal - Italy

http://www.myspace.com/wunjo89

     This is the second release I've downloaded Today in order to review it for Elders' Sword, and I must admit I'm disapointed by my choice... and in the following lines I'll explain why.

     Wunjo is a duo from Ferrara, Italy with Bifrost Werewolf taking care of the vocals, synths and drums (drum programmings I guess) and Ashgath being in charge of guitars are a few backing vocals. "Eternal Brotherhood" is a 4 tracks debut demo released earlier this year by the two guys, and I'll start naming the bad points: the sound is too unpolished, sometimes it's really awful on vocals, especially when the background vocal appears; the drum programmings are too simple, almost no variations or changes, and they become anoying at some point; the guitar riffs are too repetitive (just take the second track "Immortal Pride" and you'll see it's the same thing from the beginning till the end). And the good things about this demo: the addition of a second vocalist (backing vox) is a good idea, it saves the music from being boring; also the main vocals are good, raspy and hoarse as they should be; the occasional keyboards work, although simple, adds a bit more dark atmosphere to the whole; the intro is great, I loved it. 

     The band has already released their debut EP this year having two labels as co-producers: Ogre Records and Eternal Winter Records, but beware, the EP is limited to 30 copies only. About this demo, I don't know if it's available for free download so I won't mention the link here.

Kaan

Wafeln - "Born to Fight" Demo 2010

WAFELN - "Born to Fight - Tales of War" (Demo 2010)
Pagan Black Metal - Chile
Available for Free Download
http://www.myspace.com/wafeln
http://wafeln.es.tl

     Ok, this is the first review ever in Elders' Swords, I hope it will bring some good luck. :)
Wafeln is actually Sael, or better said is the personal one-man-band of this Chilean guy named Sael. He started the project only recently, but already managed to release his first Demo EP. I guess it is only available for Free Download and no physical copies were made, that's how I found it. I was just looking on those countless free download websites (don't think any of them are legal...) around to find some material for the first review in E.S.
     "Born to Fight - Tales of War" is composed of 10 tracks and it seems Sael wanted to divide the material in two parts, like he planned this for being released on tape sometime. Actually, from the music point of view there are no differences between the two parts so this may only apply to the lyrical aspect of this release. The music is mostly fast paced Black Metal with some mid-tempo insertions, has a pretty resonable raw and dark sound, not the clearest one around, but at least Sael mentiones that on his website and warn us about it. The Pagan part of this release is given by the lyrical side, the intro, intermezzo and outro are trying to add the Pagan atmosphere in music as well, but it is not enough to really drive you into the atmosphere or better said to create one. Also Sael could add some more variations in his vocals, or at least that's my opinion.
     To sum it up Wafeln is a project that doesn't disappoint after its debut, it actually present us a good musician with real skills on guitars (just check his melodic guitar solos) and composition (although they might sound similar the tracks are not boring at all, you can follow them till the end of this release), an underground project that has the bases to grow in the future.

Kaan