Taking a look at the front cover of Nordheim, I don't think that some of you might think do they play Pop Metal?. Gjallarhorn not only have a really hard to pronounce name, they also seem to be a very hard to be found on the web band. Their label doesn't name anything on their site. There is a band that exists eleven years with the same name and swamps all search results on the web. I finally found a website of their own but my excitement disappeared once I realized it contained pretty much no info whatsoever and most of the stuff in it was written in runes! Ok, it looks cool but give the reporter trying to do his job a break (hehehe).
Gjallarhorn is a four piece act and contains in its ranks members of the mighty Italian epic doomsters Doomsword. Nordheim is actually their demo officially released with slight changes in its sound. Indeed it has a very good production! Two are the biggest influences of this band. Bathory in their mid period and of course Doomsword. Try to imagine a band sounding a bit faster than Doomsword and a bit more compact than Bathory in their Epic Trilogy. Sounds like a dream come true, right?
Yeah, it is a dream come true! Their music is simple, solid, toped with an amazing vocal performance by Vali. What you get is 100% epic music with no flashy playing techniques. This is WAR! As I mentioned earlier, the production is bombastic, though it sounds a little sedulously untidily if you know what I mean. The riffing/drumming brings in mind military marching and though it's really hot here in Athens as I'm writing these lines, Gjallarhorn's music takes me to the frozen North.
I dare to say that Quorthon must feel proud right now, looking down from his throne and examining the work of his children. A great album anyway you look at it!