Viking Metal and Pagan Metal are Metal genres that are too recent. Today, both genres shares some common musical features, different from the past, when BATHORY started Viking Metal on "Blood Fire Death" and "Hammerheart", and  SKYCLAD begun with the blend of Metal with Folk elements on "The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth". A point in the middle of both ways can be found on "Dark Soldier", the new EP from Brazilian quintet PAGAN THRONE.

They're, at the beginning, a Viking/Black Metal band, as can be heard on "The Way to the Northern Gates" (their first album, from 2010), but since then they evolved, using more and more Folk elements on their music, creating an hybrid that can sound aggressive and brutal sometimes, and on others, melodic and introspective. And on this EP, there are orchestrations, epic choirs, and introspective melodies. Of course it's still an extreme Metal band, but with the elegance that excellent melodies can give. And it's full of energy in a way that will hook the fans by the ears. They renounced from traditional extreme Metal sound qualities, keeping the aggressive raw tunes only on the musical instruments. The production focused to create something clear and heavy, in a way that is not usual on Black Metal. But it fits on what the songs need, showing a very good work from Rafael Ribeiro on the production, mixing and mastering of "Dark Soldier".

There are two intros and three new songs on "Dark Soldier": "The Rise of the Golden Empire" (a climatic and epic introduction, focusing on keyboards and choirs, but with the drums giving those constant epic pacing tempos), "Dark Soldier" (a song rich in elements and with excellent rhythmic changes, with charming pianos and epic choirs), "Empty and Cold" (with some oriental melodies, and the slower tempos reinforces the Folk Metal aura of the song, and it shows excellent vocals), "Prelude to a Dark Sun and Blood Moon" (another climatic introduction, using only keyboards and pianos), and "Ascensão ao Poder do Sol" (it's the first time the band uses Brazilian Portuguese on its song, with very good slow rhythm, what shows a good work from bass guitar and drums, and the song that creates the link between the past and the future of PAGAN THRONE). And there are orchestral versions for "Dark Soldier" e "Empty and Cold" on the EP as well.

It seems that PAGAN THRONE is working on a new album, but until its release, "Dark Soldier" comes to fill the space and to ease the anxiety.