Forefather - Steadfast

Genre: Folk Metal

Country: United Kingdom

Year: 2008

Label: Seven Kingdoms

As many of you know, I'm not a big fan of folk metal overall, but every once in a while a band rises above the generic masses of that genre and creates something truly awesome. Steadfast is Forefather's triumph. Brothers Athelstan and Wulfstan have packed this album so full of forceful energy and awesome riffs that it seems as if the CD will burst at any moment. Every single track has something cool to offer, and pretty much every song here is memorable, if not downright infectious. The vocals are really fantastic, especially the smooth, soaring cleans that are largely responsible for the way this album sticks with you, lending an awesome epic touch to the already fantastic songs. Another interesting aspect of Steadfast is that, while certainly within the realm of folk metal, there are  no keyboards to be heard. The folk feeling of the album is derived entirely from the riffs themselves, which is extremely refreshing and handled expertly by the brothers Forefather. The lyrical concepts deal with Anglo-Saxon history, which is also extremely cool, and the album closer is actually a metal adaptation of a middle-English folk song (and it works very, very well indeed). The only drawback to this album is that the drums are programmed, whereas a real drum kit would have suited the full-force energy of the music better, but it's really a very small issue and does very little to detract from how awesome the album is. Even for those of you out there who, like myself, feel that folk metal has become a rather over-saturated and plastic genre, this breath of fresh air is definitely worth checking out.

Steadfast 

Nokturnal Mortum - Голос Сталі

Genre: Folk Metal

Country: Ukraine

Year: 2009

Label: Oriana

I'm just going to go ahead and discuss the album at hand and leave the political discussions to you guys. What I care about is the music - and what fantastic music it is! Голос Сталі is easily the band's best work since Goat Horns (actually, I think it's better, standing right up there just underneath Lunar Poetry). The band somehow managed to work in hints of Pink Floyd and King Crimson and have it mesh seamlessly with their folk metal base. I don't know how, but they did. It sounds pretty absurd on paper, but in practice, the Ukrainian five-piece has forged the unlikely combination into an absolutely sublime work of art. There are more clean vocals on this album than on any of their past works, but they are put to great use and really help enhance the music, and there are some absolutely scorching leads provided by some guest shredders that help round out the massive, epic leanings of the songs. My only complaint here is that the production isn't quite big and full enough to support the enormous ambition of the songs, but it's still listenable and in the end it isn't much of an issue at all. Folk metal has become very tiresome and plastic to me, but Nokturnal Mortum has breathed a breath of fresh air into the genre with this beast. Голос Сталі was definitely one of my favourite albums of last year, and it's definitely not one to miss.

For fans of Moonsorrow, Аркона, Munruthel, and Skyforger.

Голос Сталі